


Those Who Sold the World

by Ragnar_the_Red



Series: TWSTW Modern AU [1]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxiety, Enemies to Friends, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Multi, No Dark Magic, Possible smut, References to Drugs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:00:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 55,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25227964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ragnar_the_Red/pseuds/Ragnar_the_Red
Summary: Eleven years ago, the Xadian wars ended with the Treaty of the Storm Spire. King Harrow and Queen Regent Zubeia lead their peoples towards a more peaceful future, though many humans and elves remain resentful of each other.The Katolian Royal Institute, funded by the royal treasury, was opened to elves in order encourage a cultural exchange to improve relations between Katolis and Xadia. Callum enters the university, ambivalent about the prospect of studying alongside elves, and is unsure of what he really wants from his education. Rayla is sent to the Institute by Ethari and Runaan, against her wishes. Thrown together for the amusement of their mysterious astronomy professor, the two have to learn how to throw off the chains of ignorance in order to chart the brave new world.
Relationships: Callum/Claudia (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: TWSTW Modern AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1973806
Comments: 251
Kudos: 270





	1. Rough Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here it is! Expected it to be up a couple of days ago, but this first chapter is longer than I anticipated. Like the tag said, no dark magic in this universe. Humans just got more technologically advanced. There will be a sort of stand-in for dark magic, that some of you may guess at after reading this first chapter. Primal magic still exists, of course. Does this mean Callum will still be a mage? I'm not telling.

"Dude, if you want to get big and strong like me, you have to at least finish the set." Soren was staring down at him from the spotting position behind the bench. "C'mon, two more and we can give your noodles a big break." The blonde put his hands on the bar, and helped Callum lift it off the rack.

Callum brought the bar down slowly, his arms shaking like crazy. He grit his teeth, gasping in pain as he touched the bar to his chest. "There you go, push it up now," Soren encouraged. He sent the bar back up to the starting position, exhaling.

A concerned look came into Soren's eyes, and the blonde racked the weights. "What...what are you doing?" Callum asked between pants. "Am...I pale?" The other man shook his head.

"Nope, you're as red as a cherry." He left his position, swiftly walking towards the bathroom. "The new protein shake mix isn't sitting well. I'll be right back."

He rested back on the bench, grateful for the reprieve. Soren had been working him like a dog as soon as they reached the college gym. He hadn't even bothered to ask Callum about why he was suddenly interested in exercising. Perhaps he assumed Claudia put him up to it.

But the nuclear engineer-in-training had never cared much about Callum's physique, one of the reasons why he liked her so much. She appreciated him for his intelligence and terrible sense of humor. He sighed dreamily, thinking about their upcoming date that night. The last one before classes started, at which point they (mostly she) would get swamped in work.

"Hey!" a voice barked unpleasantly, breaking him out of his daydreaming. He tilted his head up to see someone standing in front of him, their hands on their hips. He focused his vision, and jumped a bit when he saw the figure was a female elf in athletic pants and sports bra glaring daggers at him. "If you're done with the bench press, then get off."

There was a blue marking under each of her lilac eyes, in the shape of long fangs. She had platinum hair that went past her shoulders, and purple horns with wavy patterns. "You goin' to keep starin', human? Or are you goin' to actually do somethin'?"

Callum panicked and put his hands back on the bar. "I, uh, have one more rep," he muttered awkwardly. The elf rolled her eyes, and walked off. "Alright Callum," he whispered to himself. "Gotta be fit to be an astronaut. Come on." He lifted the bar off the rack and tried to bring it down to his chest.

He underestimated how much Soren had been helping him. His arms were too tired to support the bar, and it was all they could do just to prevent the weight from rolling onto his windpipe. Instead, the bar slammed into his chest, knocking the wind out of him.

His arms were straining beyond belief just to keep the bar at bay. _There's no way I get this thing off._ Callum prepared himself for a life of being pinned to a faux leather bench covered in his own sweat. Suddenly, a pair of hands reached down to grasp the bar.

Callum thought it was Soren, but did a double take when he saw the hands had four fingers. He looked up and saw that the elf had come back. She helped him lift the bar back up onto the rack. "Idiot," she berated him. "What are you doin' without a spotter when you are liftin' to your limit?"

He would thank the stranger for rescuing him from a life of being pinned to fitness equipment, but her aggressive demeanor made him forget everything about social graces. "Well, I was, uh...um waiting for him. He was in the bathroom, but you, um, started yelling-"

"I wasn't yellin' you big dumb human," she retorted angrily. "And common sense would tell you that you'd just ask someone else to help you, instead of tryin' to get yourself killed." Her eyes seemed to take in his muscles, or lack thereof. "This isn't your scene, anyway. Don't you people have machines to do all the hard work?"

The elf walked away, leaving him there. His heart was pounding out of his chest, and he was worried that he would have an anxiety attack. Thankfully, Soren showed up a moment later. "Hey step-prince, what was with that elf? Was she spotting for you while I was gone?"

"I guess you could say that," Callum replied weakly, standing up from the bench. His arms dangled at his sides, feeling like jelly. "I dropped the bar on my chest, and she pulled it off. Then she called me a weak idiot and implied that I shouldn't bother being here."

"That first part is kind of true," Soren admitted. "Don't bench without a spotter. But that last part...it's a shame she was pretty, because that's a real bitch thing to say." The soldier put a hand on his shoulder, and looked at him earnestly. "No one gets to tell anyone they don't belong in a gym just because they aren't fit. I mean, what are you even supposed to do instead? Cut down trees and climb mountains to get into shape?"

He gently pulled Callum towards the locker room. "I think we're done for today. I would like for you to at least have the energy to open doors for my sister tonight."

* * *

It was fortunate his Caelis 1200 had automatic scissor doors, because Callum didn't think he would've been able to manage it himself. It was a great effort to keep his arm interlocked with Claudia's as he walked her to the car from her father's house.

"You're not trying to show off, are you?" She asked him teasingly. "You know I'm not dating you for your car." Claudia got into the passenger seat, and he walked around to get in. The doors automatically closed when they buckled in.

His girlfriend sighed, leaning back into the comfortable leather seats. "Though, it is an excellent bonus." She turned to face him as he started driving towards the restaurant she had picked out. "How did your workout with Soren go? He didn't push you too hard, did he?

Callum chuckled. "Why do you think I used the automatic doors? Even keeping my arms on the steering wheel is painful." She laughed at that, a mildly gravelly sound that came at a staccato. "It went okay," he continued. "Except for when Soren left, an elf yelled at me for sitting on the bench press, I tried to bench without him, nearly crushed my throat, and got yelled at by the elf again when she had to pull the bar off me."

"Oh, I'm sorry Callum." Claudia put her hand on his thigh to comfort him. "She's in _our_ land, she should show some respect. Were you okay? Did you..." _Did you have an anxiety attack?_ The rest of the question hung in the air for a few seconds.

"No. No, I was fine." He sighed and slumped his shoulders. "It's no big deal. I probably won't ever see her again. Let's just...forget about it, and focus on enjoying ourselves before school starts."

"Right, of course." She pulled out her phone and fiddled with it for a few seconds. The home screen of his displayed the name of her favorite punk band, and Claudia got ready to sing along to the angst-ridden lyrics. "C'mon Callum," she pleaded. "You _have_ to know the words to this song by now."

He snorted and obliged, using his most whiny voice to mock the singers. "All the small things, true-blah, blah-blah." She lightly smacked his arm in irritation, though he saw her fight back a giggle.

"You're horrible," Claudia grumbled. "Fine, I'll change it to something you like." Midge Ure's cover of 'The Man Who Sold the World' began to play. "You know this song is weird, right?"

"And your favorites aren't?" She shrugged. "I just like the vibe it gives off, even though the lyrics don't make much sense."

"Hmm." They sat in silence for a few minutes. The restaurant was a high-class place near the newly-forming elven neighborhood that the Council named the 'Xadian Quarter'. There were only a few hundred elves living there, mostly artisans and grocers taking advantage of the market for hand-crafted goods and magically-grown fruits and vegetables. The restaurant owner was from Duren, and had added some Sunfire elf recipes to his menu after a visit to Lux Aurea.

"Callum?" Claudia asked.

"Yeah?"

"Have you...talked to your step-dad about your degree?" Callum sighed. Harrow had encouraged him to work towards a political science major, saying that it was important for him to understand how governments worked, since he was prince. Callum had gone along with it, since he couldn't bring himself to tell his step-dad that he had no interest in government.

He was able to convince Harrow that he could also handle a minor in astronomy. But that didn't come close to requirements the Katolis Administration for Space Exploration had for their astronauts. "No," he told Claudia. "I don't want to rock the boat. He's under a lot of stress already. He was happy when I told him I was going to major in political science. I don't want to take that from him."

"He's your _dad_ , Callum. I think what would make him happy, is knowing that _you're_ happy." She paused for a moment, then put on a more cheerful tone. "And if you switched to nuclear engineering, you could work towards being an astronaut while also having classes with me! We wouldn't have to worry about not having time for each other."

"I'll think about it," he replied in concession. Her idea was tempting, but he was just too nervous to actually discuss it with Harrow. It had always been hard to talk to his step-dad about important things.

They reached the restaurant, called Del Jardí del Cel. Callum pulled alongside the curb, and got out after checking for traffic. His arms still taxed beyond practical use, he buzzed the passenger door to make it swing up.

He helped Claudia step out of the car. He took in her outfit for a second time, a long black dress with a modest cut and slits that went up to her mid-thigh, and a pair of black heels that made her a couple inches taller than him. She looked absolutely gorgeous.

"You can look all you want later," she told him, taking his arm in hers. "When we're somewhere more _private_ than this." Callum chuckled nervously as they walked into the restaurant. _That's one way to forget about what happened at the gym,_ he thought to himself.

* * *

Callum groaned as he woke up to the unpleasant sound of his phone's alarm. 7:45 in the morning. Monday, the first day of college. Claudia was stirring beside him, rubbing her eyes and groaning herself. "Hey," she said upon seeing he was also awake, smiling slightly.

"I think staying up past midnight might have been a mistake," he confessed with a guilty grin. She made an amused sound, and sat up in his bed. Panic suddenly grabbed at his heart. "Wait, won't your dad get suspicious that you didn't come home last night?"

"Pssh, he doesn't care at this point. My dad doesn't hate you Callum, he's just protective of me." Claudia reached for her own phone, checking the time. "I'm going back to sleep. I don't have my first class until 11:00, because unlike you, I actually registered ahead of time."

He scoffed. "You mean Viren registered your classes ahead of time. You're just as bad as me when it comes to procrastinating." She did a full shrug, and laid back down on the bed. Callum threw the covers off himself and got up to start his day.

Callum had one of the on-campus apartments instead of a dorm room, and no roommates. _One of the perks of being a prince_. Soren lived in the next suite, rooming with a soldier friend named Marcos. Lucky for everyone, the walls were pretty sound-absorbent. Claudia wasn't the quietest bed partner, and he preferred not to traumatize his best friend for life.

After a couple bowls of corn flakes for breakfast, he went to take a shower, then selected his 'odor enhancers', as Soren liked to call them. He didn't usually wear cologne, but Claudia had been pushing him to try a new fragrance she got for his birthday weeks ago."Eh, why not?" He prayed the cologne directly to his neck, and applied some deodorant.

Callum made a mildly successful attempt to tidy up his hair, then went to pick out an outfit. He wished that Claudia had gotten up with him; she was usually the one who he relied on to tell him whether an outfit was good or not. But she wasn't awake, so he decided to go with his 'safe outfit'; a blue polo shirt, gray dress shorts with a brown belt, and brown loafers.

It was a pleasant day, so he opted to walk to class. He didn't really see many elves until he got further into the campus, since many of them didn't have the money for the upgraded housing, which relegated them to the standard dorms.

But as he approached the Sciences building, he saw all sorts of elves. Most of them were Moonshadow and Sunfire elves, since those groups lived closest to the border. There were a few Skywings and Earthbloods, and he even spotted a Tidebound elf, who looked so unlike the other elves. But no Startouch elves, to his disappointment. It wasn't surprising, given that they were pretty rare to begin with.

Callum entered the building, taking the elevator up to the sixth level, the highest one. The elevator car was crowded; three humans besides himself, a Moonshadow, and an Earthblood. The tension in the lift was palpable. The other humans seemed to recognize him, but kept quiet. The Moonshadow elf was staring at the ceiling, her face mostly obscured by the collar of her black leather jacket. She cradled a heavily customized helmet under her arm. The Earthblood was looking right at him.

Out of his periphery, he noted her antlers were massive, replacing what would be hair. Suddenly, she spoke. "You're one of the princes, aren't you?" Her voice was gentle, with a singsong accent similar to the one possessed by the elf from the gym, only that it sounded...friendlier.

"Uh yeah," he replied awkwardly. "I'm...I'm Prince Callum." He always felt weird when regular people called him a prince. It never really registered when the Crownguard did it; it was kinda part of their job. But Soren and Claudia never called him prince, nor did any of the castle staff like Barius and the librarian.

The other humans were now glancing up from their phones to watch the interaction. The Moonshadow elf was watching too, and he realized she was the one from the gym. The anxiety boiled up again, and he fought to keep it down.

"Oh, it's wonderful to meet you!" The Earthblood elf seemed oblivious to his social discomfort. "Your father is a good man." She caught the mistake, and corrected herself. "Sorry, your step-father. I forget that humans make the distinction."

"No offense taken," Callum reassured her. "He is a good man, just like my dad was." _Got killed by an Earthblood mage,_ he nearly added. But he was glad he didn't. For all he knew, this elf could have lost a loved one to the war as well.

The elf nodded somberly, and fell quiet. The other humans went back to their phones. But now the gym elf was staring at him, and it didn't seem like a friendly stare. More like a "I want to cut out your heart and feed it to a dragon," kind of stare.

Mercifully, the elevator reached the sixth floor. He had positioned himself to be the closest to the doors, and made a hasty exit as soon as they opened. The Earthblood and the other humans all went the other way. But the gym elf was still right behind him.

He nervously walked towards his class, which he had been certain to find the location of beforehand. Outside the room stood a very tall elf, with dark blue skin that had markings similar to stars. His horns were quite long, going straight up for the most part. A small smirk adorned his face, as though he knew something no one else did. His eyes were timeless, speaking to the millennia that he had spent walking the earth. 

"Professor...Aaravos?" he asked, a bit uncertain of the pronunciation. Callum had known the professor would be an elf just by the name, but...his astronomy professor was a _Startouch elf_. It made sense for a Startouch elf to teach astronomy, but even still, he had hardly imagined one ever coming to Katolis.

The professor's smirk turned into a smile, albeit a mysterious one. "You weren't expecting someone like me, I know. And I didn't foresee a prince of Katolis enrolling in one of my classes. I am... _honored_...that you have chosen to be one of my pupils." Aaravos gave a slight bow of his head.

"Uh, you're welcome?" Callum was taken aback by the elf's extremely respectful demeanor. Suddenly, he felt an elbow spike into his shoulder blades. He had to sidestep in order to avoid bumping into his new professor, and instead hit his head on the door frame. The gym elf walked through, giving him the dirty eye as she did so.

"Ugh, great. Just my luck she'd be in this class," he bemoaned, forgetting where he was for a second. He froze, and looked back at Aaravos. The ancient elf's smirk had not faded, as he regarded the Moonshadow elf. He indicated for Callum to enter the class room.

As if fate itself had mandated it, the only open seat was next to the gym elf. Callum reluctantly took it, averting his eyes from her the whole time. The elf's mint-green motorcycle helmet rested by her feet, staring straight up at him.

He attempted to force his nervousness down, as Professor Aaravos began class. "Welcome to Introduction to Astronomy, or AST125. I am Professor Aaravos. Some of you may know me as the foremost mage among the Startouch elves. I was invited here by King Harrow the day after the Treaty of the Storm Spire was signed. I am and always have been eager to further the knowledge of the world, so I gladly accepted."

"I teach at every level of astronomy. But I am more selective of who I teach after each level. I have little interest in teaching those who have no passion for this field of science and magic. Impress me with your aptitude and intellectual fire, and we will be together until the end of your education here. Now, with that out of the way, I shall explain how I intend to teach this course."

Callum struggled to pay attention through the diatribe, too concerned with the hostile elf directly to his right. He had no idea where her eyes were looking, but he couldn't help but feel like they were on him. His breathing got sharp and shallow. _My meds_ , he remembered. He had forgotten to take them.

He dug through his backpack, looking for the plastic baggie he kept extra ones in. Finding it, he popped one of the tablets into his mouth, forcing himself to produce saliva to help him swallow the pill. It passed down his gullet, and Callum took a deep breath.

His attention returned to the class, and he saw that Aaravos had put a slide up that had people in the class paired together. "I determined these groupings before this class began, with a preference for elf-human pairings. There is no room for hostility in this new world, and it goes double for the sciences. Find your partner, and familiarize yourselves with them."

Callum looked through the slide for his name, and found himself paired with someone named 'Rayla O'Silvergrove'. An elf, obviously. Thanks to his exchange with the professor, he imagined that whoever his partner was would already be looking at him. But as he looked around the room, he found that no one was looking at him.

"I'm your partner, idiot." Horror gripped him as he turned to his right, to see the gym elf, _Rayla_ , glaring at him. "Just my luck, gettin' paired with a drug-addicted prince."

He opened his mouth to protest, but she had already gotten out of her seat to make a beeline for Professor Aaravos. The murmuring of the class made what she was saying too hard to hear, but her body language said enough. _It's for the best_ , he thought to himself. _I'm not sure who would kill me first, her or my anxiety_.

To his credit, Aaravos looked completely un-intimidated by the Moonshadow elf. He said a few words that made Rayla deflate, and the elf returned to her seat in defeat, sulking in her chair. The professor cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of the class.

"If you are... _unsatisfied_...with the partner you've been assigned, you can solve this by ceasing to be a petulant child. If you wish to continue to be a petulant child, then drop this course. I will have lost nothing." Callum stole a glance at his partner, who was flushed red with anger and embarrassment. 

Aaravos continued. "You will be with your assigned partner the entire semester. You will complete all of your assignments together. You receive your first assignment today. After completing the first chapter of the assigned textbook, you will answer this question. How long is the orbital period of a planet with a semi-major axis of 42 AU, and where would this planet be located in our solar system, in relation to the other planets?"

The Startouch elf went into a thirty minute lecture on the origins of astronomy in human and elven history, then dismissed class. Rayla almost darted out of her chair, her helmet nearly bopping him on the head. She didn't even spare him a withering glare as she left.

As Callum walked out, he looked at Aaravos. The elf's smirk never left his face as he bid him farewell. _Elves are really fucking weird_ , he decided.


	2. Giving it the Old College Try

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two up, all from Rayla's point of view. Thanks for the comments and kudos for the first chapter, glad so many of you liked it!

Rayla sped down the street towards home on her electric motorcycle. Not the dorm room she shared with a shy Sunfire elf named Kazi, but Ethari and Runaan's house, where she had lived for the past year. Queen Zubeia had encouraged elves to move into human lands. The faithful subject that they were, Ethari and Runaan volunteered. Or rather Ethari had volunteered, and Runaan had no choice but to go along with it.

And that meant Rayla had to go along with it too. Ethari had adjusted quickly; his talents in crafting weapons and armor were no longer essential, but the wealthier humans still bought them for display pieces. _His beautiful creations, hanging up on some human's wall to collect dust_. 

He still created armor, of a sort. The smith learned to work with human materials as soon as possible, and was creating protective gear for private citizens. Her custom motorcycle helmet was designed specifically for elves, to accommodate their horns.

Runaan didn't have as easy of a time. There wasn't much work for soldiers without a trade during peacetime, much less assassins. But somehow a human had caught wind of his past profession, and offered him a job at a 'security firm'. Runaan now provided protection to famous humans, and sometimes elves too. He didn't seem to care for his job, but it was something to do.

As for herself, Rayla had only managed to find odd jobs as a courier. Humans didn't seem to care for elves running across their balconies and fire escapes, so she learned how to ride a motorcycle. It was hell passing the exams and doing the paperwork, but she managed to get her license a few months ago.

She reached their apartment parking complex, a two level building that almost entirely housed elven-owned vehicles. There were always a couple of human police officers stationed at the entrance, since there had been quite a few incidents of humans sneaking in to scratch the cars, pop tires, and smash windows. It still happened at a lesser rate, as the Monday to Wednesday officers always seemed to be looking the other way. She doubted it was coincidental.

Her bike was spared, thanks to an illusion charm Ethari made for her. When it was active, anyone but her and whoever she trusted saw the bike at a big traffic cone.

Rayla pulled into her parking space and took off her helmet. _Hopefully_ _Ethari made something Xadian for dinner_ , she thought to herself. She badly needed a taste of home right now.

Open walking through the door, she was greeted with the smell of salt and tomato sauce, and the sound of bubbling hot water. _Spaghetti_. Rayla groaned. "Why do you even like this human food, Ethari?"

"You won't even try it Rayla," he chided her from the kitchen. "How could you know it's bad?" The smith walked out into the living room. "You're going to have to get used to human food, Rayla. And you won't if you don't keep an open mind."

She kicked off her shoes and flopped onto the sofa. "Not while the Institute's meal hall still serves elven food. Even if they never make it right, I'd rather have Tidebound kelp bread than any of those greasy piles of shite humans eat."

Ethari sighed. "I'm guessin' things didn't go so well on your first day of school, then." He moved to sit down on the sofa, and Rayla drew her feet back to make some room. "What happened, some humans give you trouble?"

She shook her head, resting her hand on her face. "No, nothing more than the usual." She sat up and swiveled her legs over to hang off the couch. "In astronomy, we got partners we have to work with the _entire semester_. I got stuck with one of the human princes. He's an idiot, and he took one of those drug pill-things in the middle of class! I tried to get the professor to switch me, but he said no, and said I was bein' 'petulant'."

Rayla crossed her arms, her anger growing by the second. "I should just find another professor. I don't even care if it's a human one. I can't work with that stick-bodied, stone-brained prince, or that smarmy Startouch bastard."

"Why? So you can prove him right?" She turned to see Runaan standing on the threshold between the living room and the kitchen. "You've never been one to give up on anything. But after one class, you're ready to quit on this professor?" The former assassin was usually sharper with his words when he felt that she had messed up. But there was nothing except disappointment in his tone.

"You aren't switching professors. And I don't care if your partner is a human prince that took a pill in the middle of class, you _will_ work with him. Do you think I enjoy working with the humans at my new job?"

She slumped her shoulders. "No." Her eyes fell on his right horn, which had been broken during his year in captivity. Guilt swelled up in her chest, and she felt ashamed for complaining about her situation. Runaan had suffered far worse for far longer.

Ethari shot his husband a look, and Runaan softened his face and stance. "I'm not saying you have to like this human prince, or even respect him. But respect your teacher. Startouch elves may come off as arrogant or distant at times, but they know far more of the world than both humans and the rest of elf-kind."

"You're right," she admitted. "I suppose I just...don't want to work with the prince of a people that brought us to our knees and took my parents from me."

"I understand the feelin' Rayla," Ethari said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I miss them too. And I know it's hard to forgive. But you've been spared from seein' the worst of war. I remember sittin' at home, waitin' for Runaan to come back from a mission. The whole year that he didn't was agony. One day, you'll find someone you love. And I pray to the moon and back that you won't have to feel what I felt."

"Peace is hard for us too," Runaan added. "Especially when all we knew for decades was war. But we are not the only ones who have suffered. Zubeia lost her husband to war, and King Harrow his wife. Yet they still forged a peace treaty, because they understood the value of life." He sat beside her on the couch, and took her hand in his. "Forgiveness is not our way. But this new world demands that we at least try."

Rayla sighed. "Fine. I'll...try to work with the human." She glanced towards the kitchen, and put on a weak smile. "I guess I should start by eatin' their food."

* * *

KRI had a large library devoted entirely to the sciences. Unlike the main campus buildings, which were largely older stone and wood, the science library was glass and steel, reflective of the new wave of human architecture. So Ethari had said when they first visited the campus.

It made Rayla feel on edge. Besides a few indoor trees and plants in the lobby, the whole building was... _inorganic_. The floors were glossy clean, the air sterile, and the bright lights assaulted her eyes, even as dusk approached.

She had arranged over school email to meet her human partner at one of the group study rooms. He had actually emailed her first, which surprised her. He had seemed a complete nervous wreck when they interacted in the past; a side effect of his addiction to whatever drug he was on, she figured.

Rayla arrived at the study room to find her partner already sitting at the long table in the center of the room. In front of him, he had a laptop, the textbook, and a notebook that looked like it had been hastily closed. "Hello Rayla," the human greeted quietly. His demeanor was still meek, but he didn't look as panicked as he was yesterday and Sunday.

"Hello...ehm..." _Shite_. She had completely forgotten his name. The Institute's school email was auto-assigned using the student's initials followed by six random numbers, so she hadn't seen his name since yesterday. "Clem?" she guessed.

"No, it's...Callum," the prince corrected. His green eyes went to his laptop, suddenly very interested in whatever he had on the screen.

"Whatever." She threw her own textbook onto the table, and took a seat at the opposite end. Silence dominated the room, as Callum stared at his laptop, and she stared at him. Mostly his eyes; Rayla had no idea that humans could have green eyes. Most had brown or blue eyes. They were a vibrant green, like the leaves of the great trees during the start of summer.

He suddenly matched her gaze with his own, and she grew flustered when she realized how long she had been looking at his eyes. "What?" she challenged angrily. The human quickly averted his eyes again, retreating them to his textbook.

"Nothing! It's just...this would probably be easier if we were sitting next to each other." Callum began fiddling his fingers, looking anxious. Rayla huffed and stood up, dragging her chair to sit closer to him.

"There. Now, you're not goin' to chomp down anymore of your pills while I'm sittin' here, are you?" He flushed red, and shook his head.

"No, I-I already took them for the day." The human opened his mouth again as if he was continuing that line of speech, but he shut it, and remained quiet for a moment. "We should probably get started now," he suggested softly.

"Fine." Rayla opened up her textbook to the assigned pages. She hadn't actually read them yet, as she was still acclimating to life on the campus. The dorms were not the easiest place to get rest if you were a light sleeper.

She skimmed through the pages without saying anything. Callum seemed antsy, as his knee was bouncing against the table thanks to his fidgeting. He kept glancing at the time, and his face showed mild distress.

His behavior irritated her, and snapped her concentration. "I know that you're used to _bein'_ waited on instead of waitin' on someone else, but at least try to be patient."

"No, I wasn't-" The human stopped himself, and took a deep breath. "It's just that I booked this room for an hour, and..." He trailed off, obviously hoping he wouldn't have to explain any further.

"I'm sorry that I didn't have the time to read the chapter in the last thirty-six hours," Rayla snapped. "We don't all get to live in a castle where the only ones makin' noise at night are the mice."

"I live on campus," he muttered weakly. His next words came with a little more confidence. "Why don't I, uh, explain it to you?" She glared at him. "I mean-not _explain_ , not like you wouldn't be able to figure it out by yourself. I mean that I could, I don't know...help you learn it quicker?"

Rayla huffed in annoyance, but she knew he was right. She slid her book so that it was lying diagonally. Callum scooted his chair a bit closer in order to see the pages.

He cleared his throat. "Alright. So our planet and the other planets all have elliptical orbits, meaning they orbit the Sun at an angle. The distance of their orbits are measured in astronomical units, or AUs..."

All of a sudden, the nervous and timid Callum was gone. His voice was clear and confident, and she could see the passion in his eyes. His personality shift was so distracting, Rayla had to shake her head a few times to keep focus.

He knew all the terms intimately, as if he had written the chapter himself. Major axis, semi-major axis, perihelion, aphelion...he used each word like they were having a casual conversation. He had to re-explain a few times, because he was explaining at a level higher than the textbook itself was.

When Callum finished, she looked at him with mild disbelief. "How can you know all this so well, when we just got it assigned yesterday?" The human's sheepish face returned, and it made her feel...sad?

"I kinda...already knew it?" He blushed in embarrassment, which confused her further. "I...read the whole textbook over the summer," he admitted. "I like learning about the sky and the universe."

"I'm guessin' you're an astronomy major like me, then." Callum shook his head, and slouched in his chair. He sighed, pushing his too-long bangs from his face.

"No. Just taking it as a minor. I'm getting my major degree in political science." Rayla snorted in mild amusement, but soon realized that he was serious.

"You're not jokin'? Maybe you are a complete idiot like I first thought. You're too nervous to _look_ at me half the time, and you're goin' into politics? I think you've been takin' too many of those pills."

"They're not..." The human got flustered again. "It's not...I'm not..." He groaned and growled in frustration, struggling to figure out what he wanted to say. "I'm a prince. I have to." He stood up from his chair abruptly, and closed his laptop. "Our hour is almost over. I'll email you when we should meet again later."

Rayla looked at her watch, frowning. "We still have ten minutes," she told him. But he had already gathered his things, and he walked out the door without saying another word.

"He's rushin' me because we're short on time, then leaves with ten minutes left when we still haven't answered the question?" Rayla grabbed her textbook, and left the study room. "Humans are _too weird_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed that chapter, chapter three will be put up next Sunday! It'll be split between Callum and Rayla's POV's.
> 
> In about two weeks, I'll be going with my family to a lake house for about a week, maybe just a few days. So I'll try to get chapter four out a couple of days earlier, since my laptop doesn't work, and typing on my phone sucks and takes too long.


	3. Introspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum is crumbling under his anxiety thanks to Rayla; Rayla doesn't understand why Callum is the way he is. Aaravos is forced to step in to help resolve their differences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter depicts an anxiety attack after the third line separation.

Callum had been bracing himself for the question all night, and Harrow finally asked it in the middle of dinner. "So how are your classes going, son?" the king asked. His jovial tone masked an air of tiredness, brought on by appeasing and arguing with senators and Xadian diplomats. The elven ambassadors constantly demanded war reparations, while the militant senators demanded that he pressure the elves to send their own reparations.

"Fine," he lied. _Not really_. History was a bit interesting, but the subject matter was too emotionally charged for him to relax with so many elves around. Political science was boring, and so was psychology. Ancient Draconic would be fun if the Skywing professor wasn't so smarmy towards humans. And astronomy...the one class he was certain he would like was taking years off his life.

He had stopped taking his medication through the summer. It had been peaceful, spending the days hanging out with Claudia, flying his old Buccaneer fighter-bomber (unarmed of course), and drawing the fields and valleys as he had seen them from the sky. But his Moonshadow elf partner changed all that.

Wednesday's class hadn't been much of an improvement over the first class on Monday. He had glanced at Rayla's bag, and saw a pair of knives just sitting in their sheaths. Weapons were prohibited on campus for obvious reasons, but her death glare put an end to any notion of snitching on her.

Her comments on his medication irked him, but he was too afraid to correct her. Especially now that he knew her dark leather clothes weren't just an attempt to project toughness. The worst part was that he couldn't confide in any of this to Harrow. His step-dad would definitely pull him out of astronomy if he knew.

While Callum had been lost in thought, Harrow had turned the conversation to politics. The king did his best not to vent to Callum and Ezran when they were younger, but he supposed that his step-dad no longer saw them as kids. "Sometimes I want to take these senators and diplomats and bang their heads together," their father said grumpily.

"The elves shouldn't be asking for anything," Callum blurted out, his pent-up anger from the last few days boiling to the surface. "They should be grateful we didn't kill them all."

Ezran went wide-eyed at his outburst, and Harrow pounded his fist on the table. "Callum!" he shouted. "That's no way to talk about other people! The war cost them dearly, we can't blame them for wanting reparations!"

"Well it cost us too, they should get over it!" He stood up angrily, knocking his chair over. His heart was beating rapidly, and his hands were shaking. Callum stormed off to his childhood room, huffing with rage.

He slammed the door shut, and sat down on his old bed heavily. He seethed through gritted teeth, and tears began to cloud his vision. He looked up, and saw her looking down on him. _Mom_.

The painting froze her in time, as her kind eyes and warm smile reminded him of the last time he saw her. When she had given him a necklace, and told him that she loved him. Then she went on the last flight mission of her life.

Callum opened up the drawer on the nightstand, pulling out the simple silver chain. Hanging from it was a small emerald encased in wood. "This belonged to your father," his mom had told him. "Now I'm giving it to you. No matter what happens Callum, be strong. I will always love you."

He collapsed in on himself, weeping. Crying for his mother, and for the father he never knew. "Why?" he croaked to no one in particular. "Why, why, why, why-uh-uh-uh-uh..." He could no longer form words, descending into choked sobs.

There was a knock on his door, and Harrow entered. He took a few steps forward. "Callum, I-" His step-dad noticed the necklace he was holding and the tears in his eyes, and froze. "I'm sorry Callum, I'll...I'll leave you alone." He turned to exit the room.

"No!" Callum shouted desperately. "Please don't go. Don't go." His dad turned back around, and his whole face went soft when he looked at Callum. Wordlessly, the king sat down next to him on the bed and pulled him into a hug.

He clutched onto Harrow, burying his teary face into his neck. "I miss her so much," he managed to utter out. His dad gripped him tighter, and rubbed his upper back.

"I know. I miss her too, Callum. Every single moment, I wish she was here, with us." They withdrew from each other, and he could see the tears begin to flow from Harrow's eyes. "Every day, I curse the Dragon King for taking her from us. But we both know how she felt about grudges. That's why I had to sign the treaty. For her, so she didn't die for nothing. So that I wouldn't die, and leave you and your brother all alone."

Callum wiped his eyes. "I know, it's just...so hard to forgive. I don't want to be angry, but when the elves at school look at me with that disgust...I can't help but get mad."

"I understand son," Harrow said earnestly. "It's hard to forgive those who despise you. But don't let the hatred of others shape you. Concentrate on being the best man you can be. I know it's hard, but don't worry about how others are going to perceive you. There will be those who hate you no matter what you do. You're not a king. You have the luxury of not needing to please them. Just be _you_ , Callum."

* * *

Rayla sighed deeply, tapping her foot against the floor of the study room. She and Callum had arranged to meet at the same time that they had on Tuesday, so they could complete the problem. But the prince was nowhere to be seen.

She wondered if the incident in class yesterday had given him cold feet. So she kept knives in her bag; so what? It was better to be safe than sorry. Not all the humans on campus were as scared of her as Callum was. There had already been an attack on an elf by a group of humans a couple of days before the start of classes. The perpetrators were swiftly arrested and expelled, but she still didn't intend to be put in a hospital for a few months. Or worse.

Perhaps he had overdosed on his drugs. She had heard from Runaan that it was a common cause of death among human youths. Rayla hoped that wasn't the case, to her surprise. He was an idiot, but an intelligent idiot.

After another five minutes of waiting, she gave up on it, and headed back to her dorm. _I'll be sure to give him a piece of my mind tomorrow_ , she decided. Professor Aaravos had made sure no group could do the assignment individually; they both had to show their work on the same sheet of paper, signed by their own hands.

A small part of her hoped that Callum failing to show up would help her convince the Startouch elf that she couldn't work with the prince. But the rest of her mind knew that there wasn't a chance Aaravos would relent.

Rayla reached her dorm room, slamming the oak door behind her. Kazi was working at her desk with a pair of headphones on; the loud noise caused the Sunfire elf to jump. They pulled the headphones off. "Oh, Rayla! I didn't hear you come in. How was your study session with Prince Callum?"

"Not well," she replied sharply. The linguistics student had been trying to start conversations ever since they became roommates, and it had only gotten worse since Rayla let it slip that Callum was her partner. For whatever reason, Kazi was absolutely enthralled with him. Given Katolis had turned Lux Aurea into a smoking ruin by the end of the war, it struck her as incredibly strange.

"That's too bad," they said a bit dejectedly. Kazi quickly moved past that, and continued on the subject of Callum. "I hope I can meet him someday. I heard that his aunt is deaf, and that their scientists created a thought-to-speech machine to help her communicate to her troops if her interpreter got hurt. I never imagined how much technology could influence language!"

"Uh huh," Rayla responded, no longer listening. The Sunfire elf continued to drone on about sign language, voice synthe-somethings, and all sorts of other babble. She hopped on her laptop to send Callum a strongly worded email.

 _Hey you fucking idiot_ , she started off. _You'd better be sick or dying, since you decided not to show up to our meeting. If we fail this assignment because of your pill-popping, those knives you saw yesterday are going so far up your arse they'll pick your nose. Cordially, Rayla_.

She regarded her electronic letter with some smug satisfaction. Callum struck her as the type of person to actually believe her threats.

* * *

Callum struggled to control his anxiety as he inched his way towards his astronomy class. He had received Rayla's 'cordial' email, but he couldn't make himself even try to respond. He had been in no shape to do anything after his breakdown last night, which is why he'd skipped his meeting with the elf.

He proceeded to have an anxiety attack in the shower this morning, without Claudia there to help him calm down. He would rather be anywhere else right now, but he knew his anxiety would only get worse and worse if he kept dodging Rayla.

With a big gulp, he entered the classroom a couple of minutes before class began. Sure enough, she was there, glaring daggers at him. His heart was threatening to jump out of his chest, but he pushed his fear down as much as he could, and took his seat next to her.

Professor Aaravos took a big gulp of coffee, and began class. "I am impressed with most of you. All but one pairing finished the assignment on time, which speaks highly of this class's ability to work together." The elf glanced towards Callum, and he shrunk into his chair.

"Keep in mind that I do not accept late work. My assignments are realistic in their time frame, and if you regularly fail to meet their deadlines, then astronomy isn't for you." Callum felt his pulse start to race, and saw Rayla clench her fists in his periphery.

"This is all _your_ fault," she seethed in a whisper. "Failin' the first assignment because you couldn't stop takin' your drugs. You're a joke." His eyes bulged a bit, and his breaths grew shallow and rapid. _No, no. Not here._

Callum jumped out of his seat, and ran for the door. Everyone had been watching him leave. He ran to the men's bathroom, and locked himself in one of the stalls. His breathing grew out of control, and it took all his might to suppress the screams of fear. His fingers ran through his hair, clutching at the strands hard.

"No, no, no, no, no, no..." he muttered to himself, trying to calm down. He rocked back and forth on the toilet lid, trying as hard as he could to reign in his spiral downward. He hadn't broken down like this in two years; Soren had triggered that one accidentally. He had been extremely apologetic, to his credit. Callum doubted that Rayla would be so considerate.

He couldn't bear to return to class. Not when everyone had seen him leave the way he did. _Maybe I'll just drop the course,_ he thought to himself bitterly. There was no way he could look any of them in the eye again.

The door to the restroom opened, making Callum's breath hitch. There was a strange sound, like rustling leaves combined with the crackle of a Tesla coil. The person knocked on his stall. "Callum," Aaravos stated simply.

He didn't respond, hoping the professor would leave. _How did he know exactly where I was?_ "Callum, please come out. I have ensured that we won't be disturbed."

Reluctantly, Callum stood up and opened the stall door, stepping out. He mustered up the courage to look into Aaravos's eyes. The elf's expression was completely neutral. "Tell me why your partner is so difficult to work with," he requested calmly.

Usually, he would be too apprehensive to answer such a direct question from a relative stranger. But something made him completely ignore his gut reactions. "She's rude, she mocks me, and she keeps accusing me of being a drug addict!" His own candor shocked him, but he continued. "She's anti-human, too. How am I supposed to work with someone who hates me for existing?!"

His professor remained unfazed. "That's how many Moonshadow elves are, Prince Callum. Bold, brash, and disrespectful." The elf cocked his head slightly. "You carry much anger towards her. Have you ever expressed it?"

"No," Callum admitted with a sigh. "She's kind of...scary. I hate confrontation, and expressing myself to strangers. I don't really know why or how I'm telling you all of this, actually."

Aaravos ran his thumb across his chin for a moment, considering something. "I have a proposal. You have until midnight to complete the assignment, which you can take a picture of and send to me over email. You must work on it with Rayla, however. You both have potential, but you must work past it. Or leave the course."

"How?" he asked desperately. "I want to work past it, believe me. But she's hellbent on making this torturous for both of us!"

"Express yourself," the professor responded. He turned to leave the restroom. "Don't come back to class today. I shall tell them you are ill." The elf snapped his fingers, and a portal deposited Callum's things on the floor. "Farewell." Aaravos exited gracefully, and Callum bent down to collect his stuff.

 _How am I going to get the confidence to stand up to Rayla?_ An idea struck him, and he called Claudia. "Hey babe, you don't have class this afternoon right?" He grinned when she said 'no'.

* * *

Rayla had gone up to Professor Aaravos after class, hoping she could convince him to let her work alone with the story of how Callum left her out to dry. But before she could say more than the ancient elf's name, he interrupted her. "You two have until midnight to finish the assignment. Work together, or drop the course."

Dropping the course wasn't an option anymore, so she begrudgingly left for the study room after supper. The human wasn't there yet, which didn't give her a good feeling about him being present.

A few minutes later, Callum showed up. She prepared to throw an insulting remark, but halted herself. There was something different about him now. There was a bit of a pep in his step, and as he sat down at the table, she caught a whiff of...lavender?

"You wearin' perfume now?" She asked him mockingly. Callum shook his head as he opened his textbook and pulled out a sheet of lined paper. Her jest had no effect on him.

"No, but my girlfriend was." He flipped through his textbook, as Rayla sat there digesting what he had said. _Girlfriend?_ _How could he pull his foot out of his mouth long enough to ask a girl out? And how did her perfume get on him? Oh._ Her ears grew warm at the implication.

"Why didn't you show up last night?" she demanded, though her tone came off as less aggressive than she intended. He didn't answer immediately, so she pressed him. "Did you take too much of your drugs?"

"No!" Callum answered sharply, taking her by surprise. He was looking at her now, his emerald eyes intense. "It's a private matter, related to my family. And they aren't recreational drugs, they're my medication. Prescribed by a doctor. Do elves not have those?"

"Of course we do! I just thought..." She was growing flustered, which caused her to grow irritated. "What are they even for, then?" Her mind turned back to taunting him. "Do you need them for your bad lil' headaches?"

The human grew visibly angry. "No, they're for my social anxiety disorder." He must have noticed her confusion, because he scoffed. "Of course you don't know what that is. It means I have a hard time in social situations, especially when I have to deal with people like you." _That's what happened in class_ , she realized.

"What's that s'posed to mean?" Rayla crossed her arms angrily. He let out a dismissive laugh, shaking his head. "I bet you made all that up just now, anyway."

"I've had it for years now, ever since my mom got killed and people wouldn't stop asking me about it!" Callum's face was completely red now, and his eyes were watery. He looked away from her, and took a deep breath. "I'm done talking about this. Let's just finish this assignment and forget that the other of us exists until Monday."

Her heart sank with guilt. His mother was Queen Sarai. _How did I forget?_ And his birth father was dead too, she recalled. He only had his step-dad now, who was probably busy all the time. She at least had Ethari and Runaan still, two parents to one.

Rayla felt the urge to apologize, and express empathy towards his pain. But she couldn't, for a reason she couldn't pinpoint. Too proud to admit fault? Saying sorry had never been her strong suit. Too afraid that he'd reject her sentiment? He had never mocked her pain; why would he want her sympathies?

While she had been lost in thought, Callum had been working on the problem. His mind seemed to be ahead of his pen, as he furiously scribbled out the numbers. He plugged them into his phone's calculator. "I got 272.2 years as my answer," he said, sliding the paper and pen to her, after he signed his name under his work.

She picked up the pen and pulled out her phone, running through the equation at a slower pace than Callum. Resisting the urge to look at his work was easy, since his handwriting was rather sloppy. She ended up with the same answer for the mystery planet's orbital period.

After she signed her name, Callum took the sheet back. He pointed to a diagram of the solar system in his book. "According to this, the planet in the problem would be between Archon and Umbra. You agree?" Rayla looked at the diagram, and nodded. "Alright." He took a picture of the sheet with his phone. "We're done," he said, a bit of relief coming across in his voice. "See you Monday."

As he packed up his things, Rayla sat still, struggling with the decision to say sorry for her actions. The human was passing through the door when she blurted out; "I'm sorry!" He turned to look at her, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. She stood up from her chair to face him full on.

"I shouldn't have assumed about your drugs-I mean medication. And...I'm sorry about your mother. And your father too." She breathed deeply before continuing. "I-I know how it feels. And I'm sorry for makin' you have an anxiety...thing." _Very eloquent, Rayla_.

Callum stood there for a moment, his face inscrutable as he stared at the floor. Then he looked back up, and gave her a curt nod. He briskly walked away from the room, leaving her alone in the blank white study space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 is up a day early, because THE SAGA HAS BEEN PICKED UP, and I was too excited to not finish it in the past 15 hours. Also, I decided I wanted the extra time for Chapter four, which will be up Friday. Next Saturday is when I leave for a week, so Chapter Five will be up on the following Monday at the earliest. (August 10th). Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	4. Humility

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla swallows her pride, and she and Callum have a short heart to heart. Claudia distrusts Rayla, and is beginning to hide something from Callum.

Rayla pulled herself up one last time, raising her chin above the bar before allowing herself to drop. With her set of pull-ups now done, she took a short break from her workout. Her eyes wandered across the gym, and she spotted Callum lifting a pair of twenty-five pound barbells. 'Trying' would be a better word to describe what he was doing. Even from a distance, she could see how badly his arms were shaking.

She saw him in the fitness center often, usually with his big blonde-haired friend. Callum must have told the other human about their altercation two weeks ago; she often caught his blue eyes glaring at her. But the blonde wasn't here today, leaving the prince without someone to guide him.

Ever since his outburst the first Friday of classes, she and Callum hadn't interacted much, beyond their two little assignment get-togethers this week. And those were strictly school-related, no discussion of anything besides their work. Normally, she would appreciate someone who could keep their mouth shut. Now though, Rayla found herself  _ wanting _ to talk to him. About what, she had no idea.

But the human was tight-lipped. She didn't know whether it was his social anxiety returning, or that he simply hated her. Or both. For the third time this week, she asked herself why she even cared. He was a  _ human _ . And a prince at that. And a boy. The social differences could not be more pronounced.

Perhaps she saw in him a kindred spirit. But the two of them were hardly the only ones to lose parents to the war. As human technology advanced, the casualties suffered by her people increased. In times past, the warriors would cling to the shadows, using their superior agility to eliminate human scouts and patrols. The moon mages would disguise troop movements, and assassins would kill the officers.

Until the humans started torching the forests with weapons that threw fire that stuck to skin, and bombs that created infernos. They started wearing goggles that detected the elves' body heat, and that could see in the dark. Their mages' illusions lost their effectiveness, and it seemed half the children in Silvergrove were missing a father or mother.

Maybe instead, she could relate to his uncertainty. Callum obviously had no interest in political science, but was pursuing a degree in it anyway, probably believing it was his duty to please his father. " _ I'm a prince, _ " he had said. Rayla's duty was to follow the peace, as Runaan had always said. "Our duty is to follow the word of the Dragon Queen," the former assassin had declared. What she was meant to do beyond that, she had no idea.

Callum dropped the barbells on the ground after barely managing a rep, and rubbed his arms. She sighed as she took out her earbuds, and then walked over to him. "Didn't I tell you not to lift more than your limit?" she asked the skinny human teasingly.

He yelped a bit, clearly having not heard her approach. "What are you doing here!" he demanded in a panicked fashion. Rayla merely cocked an eyebrow. "I mean...what are you-never mind." The prince slumped his shoulders, a slight frown drawn across his face. "Come to gloat again?"

She crossed her arms. "No, I came to help you. But if you prefer to destroy what muscles you do have, I'll leave you to it." She turned away, but his hand shot out and grabbed her shoulder. Most people who did that would get their fingers broken, but Rayla just slapped his hand away.

"Sorry," Callum said sheepishly. "I...would appreciate it if you helped me. Since, y'know, Soren's not here, and you look..um...strong, so you probably know a lot about lifting weights, and I don't, so-"

"Alright I get it," Rayla interrupted, knowing he might've gone on for the next minute. She gestured to the barbells on the floor. "How many have you done so far?"

"Just five," he admitted. "I was hoping that I had gotten strong enough, but I guess I was wrong."

"How long have you been lifting? Just a couple of weeks?" Callum nodded, and Rayla shook her head. "It'll be another month at the least before you're ready for those. These things take  _ time _ , Callum.” Curiosity guided her next words. "What made you want to start workin' out anyway?"

"Uh, my girlfriend?" He didn't sound convinced of his own answer. "Yeah, she just wanted me to look really muscly."

She rolled her eyes as hard as she could. "So your girlfriend decided out of nowhere that she didn't like your body, even though you've...you know...?" Callum blushed and nodded slightly. "You're a terrible liar. Not a bad thing to be terrible at, but you're terrible at it nonetheless."

"Fine," he sighed, and his demeanor somehow became even more shy. "I...want to be an astronaut, and I can't become an astronaut if I'm not physically fit."

"An astronaut?" Rayla asked, wracking her brain for the meaning of that word. "That's someone who goes into space, right?" Callum nodded again, his face lightening up a bit.

"Yeah. I've always wanted to be an astronaut. My mom and I used to fly above the clouds at night, far from all the lights of the towns and cities. Then the only light was from the moon and stars. I always told her I'd be the first person to step on the Moon." The human broke out of his reverie, his face scrunched in concern. "Wait, that wouldn't be offensive to Moonshadow elves, would it?"

Rayla couldn't help but smile at his awkward thoughtfulness. "If a human got there first, it would. Maybe you'll have to take one of us with you?" Internal panic took her for a moment. _Oh no, did that sound kind of_ _flirty?_

Thankfully, Callum didn't seem to think so. "I guess it would make a good gesture, bringing an elf along on one of the most important journeys in human- I mean,  _ world _ history."

"You keep talking about goin' into space, but aren't you still a political science major?" She glanced around, and saw that another human was impatiently waiting to use the barbells. Rayla pulled Callum with her towards the treadmills. "I don't know much about astronauts, but I'm guessin' they prefer someone more qualified than that."

They both stepped on the treadmills, setting the pace to a jog. "They do," Callum acquiesced. "But...it's complicated." He went quiet after that, clearly unwilling to continue that line of discussion.

"Look," Rayla started. "I may have only known you for a couple weeks now, but this situation is probably complicated because you're makin' it that way. You humans are weird like that; you want to do what you're good at, but you'll do somethin' you hate instead, because it's  _ necessary _ ."

"Sometimes we don't get to choose to do what we want," he rebutted bitterly. "My dad spends half his time arguing with bull-headed senators that want him to rip up the treaty, and elven diplomats that want him to personally apologize to every elf that has ever existed. He's  _ always  _ tired now. If I take political science, I can help him out, even if it's just a little."

She took a few moments to compose her counter-argument, and another to wonder why she cared so much about a human prince's problems. "He's got advisors for that, doesn't he? Your loyalty to him is noble, but if he's as good as you make him out to be, I'd think that he'd want you to do what makes you happy. What exactly  _ do  _ you want to study, besides astronomy?"

"Aerospace...engineering," Callum replied, between labored breaths. "I like planes, helicopters, basically any machine that can fly." He huffed and puffed for a few seconds before continuing. "I guess I got it from my mom."

Rayla remembered hearing about Queen Sarai. Her skill as a general and a warrior garnered respect, and a healthy fear, from all the elves who had fought against Katolis. Even with King Avizandum supported by a half-dozen mages casting protective spells on him, the human queen had still slain him, flying close enough to shoot her cannon into his gullet when he opened his maw to loose his lightning.

But the dragon's wing inadvertently struck her plane, knocking it out of the sky. Queen Sarai died in the ensuing crash, and the wounded Avizandum could not defend himself from the human tank battalion led by the queen's sister, General Amaya. 

The two of them were quiet for the next ten minutes. There wasn't anything she could think to say in response, or at least, nothing that she thought wouldn't prick his feelings.  _ Like I cared about doing that before _ . But she that was when she thought he was a layabout, a former 'gifted child' now coasting on his inherited status.

That's what she thought at first. Now though, Rayla decided he wasn't too bad. His nervousness was...endearing. And he was pretty smart, when he stopped letting the awkward part of his brain control him.

Suddenly, Callum stopped his treadmill. "I'm...done," he managed to say, breathing heavily with his hands on his knees. His forehead was wet with sweat, as was the collar of his athletic tee. "Feels like...my lungs are...on fire."

Rayla stopped her treadmill, and pulled up on his arm. "Keep yourself upright. It's harder to breathe when you collapse your diaphragm like that." The human listened, resting his hands against the handles of the treadmill.

"Thanks for your help," he said after recovering his breath. He stepped off the treadmill, and started walking towards the locker room. But she stopped him by grabbing onto his shoulder.

Callum spun around, wearing a perplexed look. "So it's okay for  _ you _ to grab onto my arm and my shoulder, but you'll smack away my hand when I do it?"

"Yep," she responded teasingly. "And I usually break the hands of people who touch me without permission, so count yourself lucky!" The human shook his head in disapproval, but a small smile betrayed him. "Since your friend can't work out with you anymore, why don't we work out together? So I can make sure my astronomy partner doesn't accidentally kill himself tryin' to lift too much weight."

He laughed a bit, but she could see the apprehension in his eyes. "Look," Rayla said, gathering the strength to say her next words. "I know we didn't get off to a great start, and I'm sorry for it. But you're not so bad, for a human." She extended her hand for him to shake. "Friends?"

After a moment of consideration, Callum accepted the offered hand. "Friends," he affirmed. He slipped his phone out of his pocket, and opened up his contacts list to show her his number. "Since it would be weird to keep talking over email," he explained shyly.

She added his number as a contact, wondering what there was for him to be nervous about. _Don't humans do this all the time?_ She chalked it up to his anxiety. Rayla put his number in as 'Human #1', giggling to herself.

The human grew suspicious. "What did you put me down as?" She flipped her phone around to show him, and he groaned. "Really?" he asked in exasperation.

"Really." She snorted in amusement at his scrunched up face. "You _are_ the first human in my contact list. I think you should consider it a badge of honor." Rayla glanced at the time. "Well, I'd better get goin'. I'm gettin' lunch with my dads. See you, Callum."

"See you," he replied, as they walked in opposite directions to the locker rooms. She sighed, as if a weight had been lifted from her chest. Then she laughed. _The first friend I made here is a human prince. How's that for giving peace a chance?_

* * *

"I think she's just trying to cozy up to the prince," Claudia confided after swallowing a bite of her salad. "Next thing you know, she'll be telling you that you should talk to your dad about expanding the Elven Quarter and approve requests for more reparations."

Callum sighed, beginning to regret having told his girlfriend about his and Rayla's newfound respect for each other. It was all they had talked about during their dinner together. It was supposed to be their weekly ritual, to either go out to eat, or meal prep at his apartment, like they had done tonight.

"You don't know that, Claudia. Why can't I just give her the benefit of the doubt. Besides, she already knew I was a prince. She wouldn't have waited until now to...get 'cozy'." Her choice to use that word made him uncomfortable. "You aren't...jealous, are you?" Anxiousness bubbled up his chest.

"No!" she denied forcefully. She looked as if she was about to lose her temper, but Claudia took a deep breath to calm herself down. "I'm not jealous Callum," she said, her voice much more measured. "I'm just skeptical that this elf wants to be friends all of a sudden, when she hated your guts to start with."

"Her name is Rayla," Callum corrected, more stern than he had meant to be. "And I don't think there's anything weird about it. She made some negative assumptions about me, found that they were wrong, and decided I was pretty okay, I guess."

"And what about her made _you_ want to be friends?" Claudia pressed, crossing her arms. "She treated you like crap, and claimed you were a drug addict. She triggered your anxiety attack, for the Lady's sake!"

"And she apologized for that," he countered. "Soren did it too, by accident. Rayla didn't even know I had it. Hell, I had to _explain_ to her what social anxiety disorder is. And she _did_ help me, pulling off the bar when it fell on me, and giving me advice at the gym. She's not a bad person, Claudia."

His girlfriend sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fine. I'll stop trying to talk you out of it, but I still don't trust her." She picked her fork back up, and resumed eating her salad.

They ate the rest of their meal in silence. The air was tense, and Callum felt the anxiousness flow up his abdomen to reside in his throat. He hated arguing with Claudia. She was his rock whenever his anxiety acted up. Soren wouldn't know how to handle it, and he didn't want to put the burden on Ezran, who was still only fourteen. 

_Maybe I can say something that'll cheer her up_ , he thought. "I think I'm going to talk to my dad about switching majors," he confided. "Rayla agreed with you, that I should think about what would make me happy. I'm having dinner with him and Ezran tomorrow; I'm going to tell him then."

A wide smile came across Claudia's face. "Really? That's awesome!" She got up from her chair to plant a wet kiss on his cheek. "I guess I should take pictures of my notes, so you can catch up quicker!"

"Actually," he began, his heart sinking at the prospect of upsetting her. "I'm...going to switch my major to aerospace engineering." Her smile faded, and her eyes reflected confusion and hurt.

"Why?" she asked, a bit incredulous. "You can take nuclear engineering and still be an astronaut! We'd get to see each other more for studying, maybe even be in the same class!"

"I know, but..." Callum's anxiety began to hike up again. "It's what I want to do," he muttered. He did want to be in a class with Claudia, but nuclear engineering just wasn't for him. It wasn't flying.

Claudia was quiet for a few moments, a long and agonizing thirty seconds. Their eyes met a couple of times, but immediately looked away. _So much for cheering her up,_ he thought to himself bitterly.

Finally, she broke the silence. "If...if that's what you want," she started, her voice a bit faint. She looked up, locking eyes with him. "...then I'll support you. I want you to be happy Callum, even if it's not the way I envisioned."

Relief washed over him. "Thanks, Claudia." He smiled warmly, and reached out to hold her hand. "Are you going to stay the night?" he asked hopefully.

Her eyes fell down to the table briefly. "No, I promised I'd help my dad with one of his projects. Something he wants to be quiet, so he wouldn't let me tell you." Claudia glanced at the time on his oven clock. "I'd better get going now."

Callum sighed. "Alright." They both stood up from the table, and shared a kiss. He drew in the scent of perfume deeply, savoring the soothing smell of lavender and chamomile. "See you next Sunday?"

"Next Sunday," she assured. She walked out the door, and he admired her retreating form, her long legs left on display by her short shorts.

But he couldn't shake the sinking feeling in his gut. _Why couldn't she tell me about Viren's project?_ Did she not trust him? Claudia didn't have her dad's permission for a lot of things she and Callum had done earlier in their relationship, and that had never stopped her.

He slumped down on his couch and picked up his controller, hoping to quash his concerns with a couple of hours of Metal Gear Solid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got good news and bad news. Bad news first; my computer's hard drive is cooked, so it's basically done until I get a new one. Good news is my laptop is working again, so I can work on the story while I'm on vacation! Chapter Five will be up next Sunday instead of next Tuesday.
> 
> And about what Claudia and Viren are working on; I left a tiny hint at the end of the chapter. That's all I'll say about that :P
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please leave a kudos if you haven't already!


	5. Never thought I'd be friends with an elf/human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum speaks to Harrow about switching majors, and Amaya becomes distressed upon learning his dream job. Callum and Rayla learn more about each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back from vacation! Went up to the Adirondacks, stayed in a lake house for a week. It was nice to get away for a little while, and get some real air. I did miss my dogs and my shower though. Almost getting stranded in pontoon boat was pretty not fun either. Other than that, I had a great time.
> 
> Here's chapter five, as promised. Meant to have it up around noon EST, but I made last-minute plans to hang out with my friends last night.

Callum's heart was beating like a drum. He knew that Rayla and Claudia were probably right, that Harrow wouldn't be upset if he wanted to switch majors. But it felt so...personal. Him and his step-dad didn't do personal stuff so much.

Amaya showing up for dinner was a surprise, albeit a pleasant one. He knew that she would understand, even if Harrow didn't. His aunt would know that he had the same drive his mother did.

Once he had mustered up enough courage, Callum set down his silverware and looked at his step-dad. "Dad," he started, trying to inject as much confidence into his words as possible. "I want to, uhh..." His bravery began to dissipate.

Harrow looked at him, confused. "You want to what, Callum?" Ezran and Amaya were also gazing at him expectantly. Callum cupped his hands in front of his mouth, taking deep breaths to settle his nerves.

 _It's now or_ _never_ , he knew. If he didn't say it now, he didn't know if he would ever be able to bring it up again. "I want to switch majors!" he blurted out loudly. Harrow's eyes widened in shock. Callum continued, riding the wave of adrenaline. "I want to take aerospace engineering, and double major with astronomy."

His step-dad took a few moments to collect himself. Callum took the opportunity to glance at Ezran and Amaya. His little brother didn't look too surprised, and gave him a nod of approval. His aunt's reaction was harder to gauge. It looked as if she didn't know what to think.

"Why?" Harrow finally said. "I...I thought you wanted to take political science." He fell quiet again, resting his face against his fist. "That...would be a lot of work, Callum. What are you planning to do with those degrees?"

Callum began to answer, but nervousness overcame him. _Would he approve of me being an astronaut?_ All he could was stammer, hoping to mumble out a response.

"He wants to be an astronaut Dad," Ezran said. Callum gave his brother a grateful smile for stepping in on his behalf, a gesture which the fourteen year old returned.

His step-dad's mouth fell agape, and Amaya stood up from the table and walked out. Callum's chest felt like it was being crushed in a vice. _Why would she leave?_ he wondered, feeling hurt.

Harrow's face morphed, turning into his 'king face', as Ezran had always called it. "I will talk to your aunt," he told him, his voice strong and comforting. "I do want you to feel like you have control of your own life. You don't need to major in a field you don't like to please me. Is that why you did it?" Callum nodded, and a shade of guilt passed through the king's eyes.

"I suppose I shouldn't have been so surprised," he admitted. "Your mother was ever the adventurer." Harrow exhaled deeply. "This is going to be a lot of work for you, son. But I will support you the whole way. And so will your aunt."

His step-dad stood up. "I'll go talk to her now. I've got an idea of what upset her so much. I don't think she's mad at you, so you can rest easy." Harrow left the dining room in search of Amaya, leaving Callum and Ezran alone.

“I’m proud of you Callum,” his brother said, wearing a glowing smile. “I think that Dad is really happy you told him how you felt. You know he loves you, just like he loves me.”

"Thanks, Ez." Ezran got up to sit next to him, and slung his arm around Callum's shoulders. "I'm lucky to have you as a brother." And he meant it. Most people in general weren't as good and kind as Ezran, let alone fourteen year olds.

Ezran's smile grew even wider. "I know," he replied sweetly. They sat in comfortable silence for the next few minutes, until their father returned.

"Callum," Harrow started solemnly. "Aunt Amaya is ready to talk to you. She's in the guest room." As he left the dining room, his step-dad pulled him aside and gave him a hug. "Don't ever feel like you need to hide something from me." A grin came across his face. "Even if you somehow end up dating an elf."

Callum laughed. "If I do, I'll be sure to tell you first." Harrow released him from the embrace, and Callum walked down the halls towards the guest room. He stopped before the door and took a breath, then opened it to step inside.

Amaya was sitting on the bed, her face looking pensive. She gestured for him to sit in a chair opposite her. He did so, and waited for her to 'speak'.

" _I don't want you to think I'm mad at you,_ " she signed. " _I care about you more than anything. Which is why the thought of you doing something so dangerous is...terrifying to me_." She got up from the bed, and paced a bit before continuing.

" _I tried to convince your step-father not to let you fly your mother's old plane,_ " Amaya admitted guiltily. " _Ever since she went down that day, I guess I couldn't bear the thought of watching you crash too._ " His aunt’s brown eyes grew misty.

Callum felt tears begin to well up in his own eyes. He had never thought about that; how his aunt must have felt, watching her sister's jet go down, completely powerless to stop it. She was the strongest person he knew, and it didn't matter. Amaya couldn't do a thing.

" _Not sure what to say_ ," he signed back slowly, his finguistics a bit rusty. But it didn't feel fair to make her read his lips. " _I am sorry. I didn't want to make you relive those old memories. If what happened to mom happened to my brother, I don't know that I wouldn't feel the same as you do._ "

A few tears began to pour down from his aunt's eyes. " _Thank you for trying to understand, Callum_ . _I won't try to stop you from pursuing your dreams, even if they scare me._ " She sat back down on the bed, a rare sob pushing out of her mouth.

Callum got up, and sat down next to her. Amaya immediately pulled him into a firm embrace. He returned it, enjoying the familiar comfort. She had always been a big hugger; it had always been the easiest way for her to show affection. _Also the best way_ , he decided.

* * *

"Now, we resume the lecture on the terrestrial planets. Our focus today will be on the planet Nidavellir, the fourth planet from the Sun, and the closest to our own world." Aaravos shuffled a few notes, and changed the slide to show an artist's rendering of Nidavellir.

The planet was dark, and covered in clouds. The few exposed spots revealed huge plains, divided by mountain ranges. "Nidavellir is slightly larger than Earth," their professor continued. "It has a secondary atmosphere similar to our own, though only twelve percent of it consists of oxygen. There are numerous lakes and seas, though only those in the tropics are unfrozen."

"Probes have found life living in these bodies of water, and scant vegetation and mammals on land. There has yet to be any sign of sentient life, though KASA remains hopeful that a manned mission may make a more conclusive search."

Though she'd never admit out loud, Rayla was amazed at how much humans had managed to learn about the other planets. Elven astronomers had known only their appearance, their size, and their orbits. _Nidavellir possessing life?_ No elf had ever considered that possibility, at least none that she had known.

Noticing the sound of furious scribbling to her left, she turned to see Callum drawing something in his notebook. He had been quite defensive of it before, always slamming it shut and hiding it when she showed up for their group study sessions.

Rayla could just take it in order to sate her curiosity, but she was too afraid of jeopardizing their still-fragile friendship. She leaned over, trying to surreptitiously glance at his sketchbook.

It was unsuccessful, as he stopped drawing and turned to look at her. To her surprise, he did not shut the notebook, or slide it off the desk. Instead, he handed it to her. It was a drawing of a short, stocky man with a long, braided beard. He was holding what appeared to be a pickaxe, the drawing still incomplete.

"It's a Dwarf," Callum explained. "Like a fictional race. The myths from Del Bar say Nidavellir is where they're from, and that they live underground, where they mine metal and craft incredible weapons and armor."

She marveled at the attention to detail and depth of drawing. The dwarf had wrinkles and freckles, and the eyes were deep-set to give the illusion of three-dimensions. His shirt was unfinished, but it was made of small scales that were very neatly drawn. "You're really good," Rayla muttered, a bit in awe. She returned the notebook to him. "Why did you always hide it from me?"

He blushed a little. "At first, I guess I was afraid you'd make fun of me. After that, well...I don't really like showing people my work to begin with. I don't know why, but it's just kinda personal."

"I get it," she assured him. "And...thanks for showin' me. I think you should hang up your art at one of those shows they do in the liberal arts buildin'. I think people will really like it."

Callum smiled, but before he could respond, Aaravos called them out. "I thought that the discussion of alien life would prove more entertaining than whatever ancillary conversation you two may be having," the Startouch elf reprimanded, with a hint of smugness.

"Sorry," they both muttered in embarrassment. Their professor resumed the lecture, though more than a few of the other students continued to stare at her and Callum, though they quickly returned their attention to the front when she glared back at them.

 _We're all going to the same school, and they find it weird that an elf and a human are having a friendly conversation?_ She crossed her arms angrily, fuming quietly for the rest of class.

Once the lecture was finished, Aaravos dismissed the class with a couple of minutes left. Rayla took her time gathering her things, so she could walk out with Callum. He showed her some of his other drawings, which included the campus and the courtyard of his family's castle. As they left, she could have sworn she saw their professor grinning mischievously at them.

* * *

Callum walked out of the advisement office, feeling light and breezy. He was now pursuing a double major in astronomy and aerospace engineering. No more stupid political science or psychology class, frying his brain cells.

He still had the pep in his step when he entered the study room, where Rayla was already waiting for him. "You're lookin' enthused," she noted. The elf still looked a bit grumpy about catching heat from Aaravos in class that morning. "The cafeteria have decent food for once?"

"Is it that bad?" She nodded with a grimace. "I'd treat you to the campus restaurants if you wanted." He sat down at the table, flipping open his laptop. "To answer your question, no, I talked to my dad the other night about switching majors."

Rayla leaned forward with interest. "And he said yes?" Callum nodded with a gleeful smile. "That's amazin'! So you're a full astronomy major now, aren't you?"

"And an aerospace engineering major," he added proudly. "No more papers about systems of government or political policy. Just aircraft design and talking about stars! Well, more than that, but stuff I actually find fun."

He half-expected her to give him the same warning Harrow gave him, about double majors being a lot of work. But she didn't. "Sounds like your personal heaven," Rayla replied with a wry smile.

"You're damn right." Callum opened up the document containing their weekly astronomy assignment. It was a surprisingly 'soft' assignment, creating your own planet. Not that he was complaining. "Have you been thinking of names for our planet? My mind has been all over the place the last two days."

The elf clasped her four-fingered hands together. "It's hot and wet, so why not...Creagtais? It means humid rock!" His skepticism must have been obvious, because her eager smile was replaced with a concentrated frown. "I guess it doesn't roll off the tongue," she admitted.

"Marais?" Callum suggested. Rayla cocked her head and furrowed her eyebrows. "It means 'swamp' in an old Dureni dialect," he explained. "Evenere has at least half a dozen towns with 'marais' in their names."

She scoffed dismissively. "That's even worse than mine. You can't name a planet 'swamp', even if it's swampy. Why don't we just...make up a name, instead of tryin' to use words in other languages?"

He scratched the scruff that had begun to form on his jaw. "How about...Dargonea? It's complete nonsense, but I think it sounds kind of cool. Better than Crack-tish or Marais, anyway."

"That's not how it's pronounced," Rayla said, shaking her head with a tiny smile. "But Dargonea sounds fine to me. Sounds like somethin' out of Mass Effect."

"You've played that game?" Callum asked excitedly. The idea that an elf, especially one that rode a motorcycle and wore leather jackets, would know about any video games was a bit shocking to him.

"Well, no. I guess it's weird, but I've only watched other people play it. I've kind of wanted to play it myself, but..." She shrugged, and her face turned a little pink. "I really didn't want to play as a human," Rayla muttered, sounding embarrassed.

"That's understandable," he started. "I think that everyone wants to play a character that they can personally identify with, and-" She gave him a look, and Callum realized what she had really meant. "Oh."

There was a heavy silence for the next five seconds, though it felt like a few hours. "I think I'll give it a try though," Rayla said quietly. "I like that it showed elves and humans at peace, workin' together."

"Me too," Callum echoed, smiling to reassure her. He typed their name for their planet into the document, and signed his name at the bottom with his laptop stylus. He slid the laptop over to his elf partner, and handed her the stylus. "I've wondered sometimes, about how much of our technology elves have in Xadia. When you lived there, did you have cars, cell phones, or televisions?"

Rayla signed her name, and gave him his laptop and pen back. "Not that much. No roads for cars, and no elf would ever use something that ran on gasoline. Radios were pretty common, though. Elves managed to take some during the war, and the mages figured out how to replicate it. Televisions were slowly comin' around, but by the time I left, I'd guess that only 1 in 5 of elven households had them."

"I guess moving here must have been pretty jarring," he mused. "How different does Katolis feel from where you grew up?"

She let out a short barking laugh. "Where to start? Noisier, brighter, and faster-paced. Everyone's in a hurry to get somewhere, as if the very universe depends on it. And there's nowhere you can get a good Moonberry Surprise."

Callum gestured to her motorcycle helmet. "You seem to have adapted pretty quickly. I'm guessing you ride an electric bike, since you said elves don't like using fossil fuels?"

"That's right. My foster dad, Runaan, told me I had to get a vehicle for myself. I saw a poster for some movie where a human was riding a motorcycle, wearin' a yellow jumpsuit. I thought she looked cool, so motorcycle it was. Had a hard time findin' a helmet that could accommodate my horns, so Runaan's husband Ethari made me a custom one. He's a weapon smith, though he works on all sorts of stuff now."

"That's pretty cool. Not a lot of humans are smiths anymore." He remembered that Amaya had always obsessively collected hand-crafted swords and such. _I bet she'd love to hear that a elven craftsman was living right here in the capital._ "What does your dad Runaan do?"

"Private security. He used to be the leader of the Moonshadow assassins, what you humans would call 'special forces'. But there's no war now, and he doesn't know a trade, so he took his talents to only place that needed them."

 _Alright, Aunt Amaya *probably* wouldn't like the former commander of Moonshadow special forces hanging out in the_ _capital_. "I'm sure he makes for a very intimidating bodyguard." Callum glanced at the time on his laptop, and saw that they had just eclipsed their time limit for the study room. "It's been forty-five minutes."

Rayla's lips turned down into a slight frown. "Really?" She flipped up her watch. "Sure didn't feel like it. "I'll see you Friday, then." She grabbed her helmet, and started to leave.

"Are you doing anything next Saturday afternoon?" Claudia would probably be annoyed at him for asking Rayla to come, but Marcos was already. _Besides, she'll see that Rayla's fine after she meets her_.

The elf shook her head. "The football team has a home game that day. Soren wants me and my girlfriend, his sister, to come. I thought you'd might like to see a game. It'll be the three of us and our friend Marcos."

She shrugged. "Sure, I guess." A small glint came across her lilac eyes. "My roommate has been dyin' to meet you, ever since I told them you were my partner. Would you mind if I brought them along, so I can get them off my back about it?"

"Sure, I don't see why not." Rayla thanked him and bid farewell. _Now, I just need to find a way to make sure Claudia doesn't kill me by next Saturday._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed that chapter! Six will be up next Sunday, around noon EST.
> 
> I wondered about how video games from our reality would differ if they were made in the world of the Dragon Prince. How would they portray elves? Video game developers tend to be more progressive, even if a lot of gamers aren't, so I think they'd have a more nuanced opinion. Especially games like Metal Gear and Mass Effect.


	6. Circles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum and Claudia argue about him inviting Rayla to the football game, and resolve their dispute in a conventionally unconventional fashion. Rayla has dinner with her dads, and reveals her friendship with Callum. Callum's begins to take issue with Claudia neglecting to stay the night in favor of working on her dad's mystery project.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter came out about nine hours later than I said it would. My morning was disrupted with the need for yard work.
> 
> A few warnings for this chapter: Implied smut, mild emotional abuse, nudity, and discussion of war (no gory descriptions).
> 
> Enjoy!

"Are you KIDDING ME, CALLUM!?" Claudia's voice could probably be heard throughout the entire complex. "We already have Marcos as a third wheel, and you decided to invite two elves I've never met along too? One of whom is apparently obsessed with you, and the other is just hiding it pretty well. They don't even KNOW FOOTBALL!"

Somehow, this was going even worse than he had expected. But it was clear that she had been lying when she said she wasn't jealous last Sunday. "Rayla's not like that Claudia," Callum replied, trying to calm her and himself down. "We're just friends, and she's not my type, and I'm _definitely_ not her type. And her roommate Kazi isn't obsessed with me, they're obsessed with Aunt Amaya and sign language, if anything."

His girlfriend shook her head angrily. "I can't believe you're this dense. That Moonshadow elf obviously wants to use you for political reasons. My dad says that her people's ambassador is almost as bad as the Sunfire's; she spends all day talking your dad's ear off about this 'atrocity' or that 'annexation.'" Claudia scoffed disdainfully. "I bet she'll start fawning over you soon, and flirt non-stop."

 _Yep, she's jealous_. "Why are you getting so worked up and worried over this? I'm not an idiot, Claudia, and I'm not going to be unfaithful." Callum's heartbeat was accelerating. "Why can't you just trust me on this?" He couldn't help but feel hurt by the way she was talking.

Guilt flashed in Claudia's eyes, and she turned away from him, crossing her arms. "I..I didn't mean it like that, Callum. I'm...sorry. But I did some digging on your elf friend. Her foster father is an ex-special forces commander, and her parents were the bodyguards for the Storm Dynasty. They went missing at the Battle of the Storm Spire, presumed dead. She has a lot of cause to hate humans."

"Her parents are dead?" His memory flashed back to when she apologized to him in the study room, after he blew up on her. " _I'm sorry about your mother. And your father too. I-I know how it feels."_ Shame came over him, as he realized he should have given her condolences. Callum shook his head. "That doesn't mean she's some...terrorist, Claudia. I lost my parents to the war, and I'm not out for vengeance."

"Not everyone is like you Callum," Claudia replied in exasperation, turning back around. "If _my_ dad was killed by elves or dragons, I'd want to see the Storm Spire crumble, and Lux Aurea reduced to ash."

"And maybe not everyone is like you," he shot back, anxiety giving way to fury. "Maybe Rayla doesn't want all humans to suffer, because she knows that we didn't kill her parents all together. And maybe I don't want all elves and dragons dead, because not every elf and dragon got together to kill _my_ parents."

Claudia was quiet for a long time, and his heart was threatening to jump out of his chest. They had never gotten into an argument so heated before, but he just couldn't help but be infuriated by the way she so quickly concluded that Rayla wasn't genuine. Her remark about how not everyone was like him rubbed him the wrong way too, like she was judging him for not being vengeful.

She stood up abruptly, and strode over to him until her face was only a foot from his. There was a strange look in her eyes, almost...lustful? _That can't be right._ "Fine. They can come, but I'll tell you now that there's no chance I'm going to be civil with elves."

"Yes you will," Callum demanded, blood boiling. "Rayla's my friend and you're going to treat her with respect. Same goes for her roommate. If you don't like it, then you don't have to come."

His girlfriend huffed angrily, but the look in her eyes only intensified. "I didn't think you'd be so hot when you're angry," Claudia said, her voice low and husky.

"What?" She lunged forward, crashing her lips against his and pressing her body into him. The sudden collision caught him off guard, and he was slammed into the wall, causing some slight pain.

Callum gave into his aggression briefly, returning her bruising kiss, and wrapping his arms around her waist. But when they broke away to take a breath, the reasonable part of his mind told him to slow down. "Claudia, what's going on here?"

"Isn't it obvious you idiot?" She pinched him on his side, eliciting a pained yelp from him. "Now stop being a little bitch like you always are and just fuck me."

His anger at the insult sent his mind back to 'primitive mode'. He attacked her neck with his mouth, dragging his teeth against the nape. Claudia moaned softly, digging her nails into his back, hard.

She dragged him into his bedroom, and shoved him onto the bed. "I'd better not be walking straight after this," his girlfriend told him, her green eyes shining with devious intent. She began to disrobe, pulling her t-shirt off as fast as humanly possible. "Because you definitely won't be."

* * *

As she rode her motorbike to her dads' place, Rayla prayed to the moon that bringing Kazi along to the football game would be worth the trouble. The Sunfire elf had squealed in excitement when Rayla told them of the news, and then proceeded to panic. "But I don't even know the rules! And what to wear? This game must be sacred to humans, and if I offended Prince Callum by dressing incorrectly..."

"Calm down Kaz," she had commanded gently, unable to contain the amused grin straining her lips. "Just wear a KRI shirt, and you'll be fine." Rayla had joined the university fencing team, and though the fans were not nearly as numerous or crazed, she assumed the basic principle of wearing clothing themed towards the team you supported also applied to football.

"Oh, okay." They had seemed to calm down for a moment, before the look of concern returned. "But I hope I don't offend him with my questions. I'm supposed to become the official translator for Queen Khessa, and if I..."

She huffed. "He's not goin' to get upset if you ask about sign language or text-to-speech programs. Don't mention his mother or birth father, and you'll get along fine. Well, he'll probably be awkward about gettin' asked so many questions by a stranger, but he won't be offended."

Kazi finally calmed down for good, and had begun compiling an actual _list_ of questions they wanted to ask the human prince. Rayla could do nothing more than shake her head at the Sunfire's quirky nature.

She arrived at the door to the apartment, and could hear the clanking of pans through the door. As she entered, she was hit with the pleasant fruity scent of lunemelon. Peering into the kitchen, she saw Runaan standing over the stove, cursing under his breath as he attempted to start the burners.

"Blasted human machines." Rayla stepped onto the tile, and he turned to face her. "You're early," he stated simply. The former assassin was wearing Ethari's forge apron, which had the words "KISS THE SMITH" embroidered on the front.

She quickly whipped out her phone to snap a picture, struggling to control her giggling. "What are you doing that for?" Runaan interrogated sharply, before he looked down and grimaced irritably. "That damned fool husband of mine must have taken the wrong apron to work," he growled.

"And he probably didn't notice it either, considerin' he never came back for it." She glanced at the clock. "Ethari's runnin' late, so we're subjected to your cookin' tonight?"

"Not running late; _staying_ late. And by all means Rayla, feel free to take over any time you wish." He continued to fiddle with the burner knob, succeeding only in turning the gas on and off. "We were supposed to replace this thing with an electric oven by last week, but the appliance man keeps failing to show up."

Rayla stepped in between him and the oven, and held the knob so the burner could ignite. But she had forgotten about all the excess gas that had been piling up, and both of them yelped in surprise at the sudden burst of flame that nearly singed their eyebrows.

"I can't believe the humans use this dangerous junk on a daily basis," she grumbled. Runaan grunted in agreement, and moved to place a pan on the burner. "So, what's got Ethari workin' overtime? I can't remember him ever needin' more time to finish a weapon or a piece of armor."

"Some human general came to meet him at the forge in person. She requested two swords be made, both in a traditional human style. She even gave him very specific drawings of the weapons. They're like nothing I've ever seen." He picked up his own phone off of the countertop, and pulled up a picture of the drawing after several moments of grappling with the still-unfamiliar technology. "Here, take a look."

Taking the phone, she gasped slightly at the incredible skill of the artist, before realizing who it was. “Callum drew this,” Rayla murmured. “It was his Aunt Amaya who came in, then.” Runaan’s eyes widened a bit. The general’s martial and strategic prowess left her quite feared and respected by all elven warriors.

She returned her gaze to Callum's drawing, which also dictated the dimensions and materials. The first was very curious looking, the blade curving in reverse, almost like a waxing crescent moon. The grip looked optimized for use with one or two hands.

The other sword was a brutal, massive thing, clearly intended for use with both hands. The pommel was colored silver, with ruby encrusted inside. The cross-guard was a foot wide, the ends curving upward. Above the cross-guard was another grip about six inches long. Above that was another cross-guard, small and simple.

As for the blade, Rayla was certain that Runaan wasn't lying about never seeing another like it. The steel was forged in an undulating pattern, mirroring flames. According to Callum's writing, the blade proper was supposed to be four feet long, with the whole sword coming out to be over six feet long.

"Humans had swords like this?" she asked. "I've only ever seen the sabers that some of their constables carry. You'd have to be an utter brute of a person to wield that second blade."

Runaan set his phone back on the counter. "If my memory serves correctly, that greatsword may be a replica of a weapon that the humans used early in the Wars of Aggression. I've seen no drawings, though texts in the library in Silvergrove described 'blades of flame' wielded by the strongest and most violent human soldiers, that wreaked havoc on the spear walls."

He started putting the slices of lunemelon on the pan. _Fruit salad sandwiches is what's on the menu then,_ Rayla figured. It was the only thing Runaan could really make. "Only a Sunfire elf in magma form or a Moonshadow during full moon could hope to wield that thing one-handed. How did those human soldiers not get stabbed to death by the spears?"

"They were covered head to toe in plate," the older elf answered tersely. "Katolis would disrupt the elven formations with cannon and gunfire, then send in their shock troops. Spearheads and arrows would simply glance off of them. Once the vanguard punched enough holes in our lines, the rest of infantry would follow, armed with halberds and pikes. It was incredibly effective tactic, when the humans could evade Avizandum.

"It couldn't have worked forever, could it? Otherwise we would've lost much earlier than we did."

Runaan frowned, and his brow creased with annoyance. He didn't like admitting that Xadia lost, that his twenty-five years of life spent fighting the humans had been in vain. "No, it didn't work forever. Avizandum couldn't be everywhere, but he wasn't the only dragon."

"An Earthblood general by the name of Cathald suggested that every elven force composed of at least five hundred should be accompanied by at least one adult dragon. The human field cannons could not aim high enough to strike the dragons if they flew high enough, and their hand-held guns weren't powerful enough to pierce adult dragon scales."

"The dragons would fly a thousand feet above the field, and dive towards the artillery, destroying them and killing the crews with their breath, claws, and tails." Runaan flipped the melon slices. "The war turned in our favor, for a time. Would you toast some bread for us and Ethari?"

"Yes." Rayla rummaged around for the wheat bread, and placed six slices in the new toaster-oven. "Why exactly did that strategy stop workin'? We never went over the specifics in school. Too demoralizin', I suppose."

Before Runaan could answer, the door to the apartment burst open. Ethari staggered in to the kitchen, his forehead still a bit shiny with sweat. Despite his apparent exhaustion, there was a wide, happy smile on his face. "What's got you grinnin' ear to ear?" she inquired.

"This might be the first time in a decade that I've felt challenged while makin' a blade. Did Runaan show you the drawin' of it, the flamin' greatsword?" Rayla nodded. "I didn't know how to get about it at first. But then I realized that..."

"Tell us over supper dear," Runaan interrupted. He took the lunemelons off the pan, dumping them into a bowl. He retrieved lettuce and moonberry jam from the refrigerator. "Apparently, your client is General Amaya. Rayla says she recognizes the drawing as Prince Callum's artwork."

"Really? Ach, I should've known. She came in with an interpreter. I thought she was just mute, since she could understand what I was sayin'. I guess she's just good at readin' lips." Ethari surveyed the ingredients laid out on the counter. "Fruit salad sandwiches, why am I not surprised?"

Rayla pulled the bread out of the toaster oven, the slices all golden-brown. Ethari moved to grab plates, but she shooed him away. "I'll handle it, go take a quick shower. Smoke and sweat don't smell very nice when we're tryin' to eat."

The smith took a whiff of his clothes, and scrunched up his face. "Good idea." He left for the bathroom, and she placed two slices of the toasted bread on three plates each. She then poured three glasses of moonberry juice, while Runaan cover spread the moonberry jam on the bread before placing lettuce and five slices of fried lunemelon on each sandwich.

The two had set the table and were seated when Ethari came back from the shower in fresh clothes. He sat himself down, and took a bite of his sandwich. "So Rayla," he started while still chewing. "How is your princely partner doin'? If he's shown you his artwork, I assume you're on better terms." He swallowed his bite, then frowned. "You didn't force him to show you, did you?"

"No! He showed me in class when I tried to take a peek. He's really good at it." She sighed, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I...got the wrong impression of him. He's incredibly smart, and wants to be an astronaut, one of those humans that flies into space. He isn't a drug addict either, he's got somethin' called 'social anxiety'. The pills were his medication."

Runaan scoffed. "Humans and their 'medical conditions'. Just excuses for their shortcomings." Rayla glared at him, and the former assassin shifted uncomfortably in his chair, falling silent.

"I've never heard of that," Ethari admitted. "But, as much as I don't like admittin' it, there's plenty that humans know better than us. I'm glad you are startin' to get along now. Are you two...?" He trailed off, gesturing with his hand aimlessly.

She froze, terrified of what he might be insinuating. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Runaan lean forward a bit, clearly interested. "Are we...what?" Rayla asked, attempting to keep her voice neutral.

"Are you friends?" She internally sighed in relief, and Runaan relaxed his shoulder some, clearly less concerned with the answer to _that_ question.

"Yes, we are. Callum needs to get into good shape to be an astronaut, so I help him workout at the Institute's gym. He invited me to go with him to a 'football game' with some of his friends."

"And you are going to accept?" Runaan asked incredulously. He had been derisive of human sports in the past, especially the physical ones, calling them 'pointless exercises in violence."

Rayla crossed her arms. "I already did. I'm bringin' along my roommate Kazi." He opened his mouth to argue, but closed it, probably realizing it was futile to attempt to dissuade her.

Ethari smiled genuinely. "I'm glad you've made a friend already, and that you're givin' things a shot with human culture. It's a new world, and there's no point in draggin' our feet about gettin' used to it."

* * *

Claudia snuggled against him, wrapping an arm around his chest and nestling her head on the nape of his neck. They were both still naked, though their sweat had been dry for a few minutes. "We should try angry sex more often," she mumbled contentedly.

He grunted quietly in response. Truthfully, Callum felt plain _weird_ at the moment. They never had sex like that, rough and full of her insulting him and scratching everywhere. His back was in pain from her nails, and she had left a love bite on his neck that was screaming at him.

In the moment, he had been on board with it, responding aggressively to her. But now...something in him didn't feel right. He resisted the urge to draw himself away from Claudia, not wanting to upset her.

Worst thing was, he had no idea if their prior disagreement was resolved. Was she just trying to get a rise out of him because she found it attractive, or was she also legitimately upset?

The obvious solution was to ask her, but he was afraid that another argument would start up. _Be confident,_ he told himself. _At the very least, she'll find it sexy._

"Claudia," he began, fighting the uncertainty gnawing at him. "About what we were talking about earlier...are you going to be cordial with Rayla?"

She huffed in annoyance. "Fine. I won't talk to her at all." He gave her a look, prompting her to amend her statement. "Unless she speaks to me first. Satisfied?"

"Satisfied." Callum allowed himself to relax into her embrace, running his hand up and down her bare thigh. She shifted around again, and he enjoyed the feeling of her breasts against his side. _At least this part feels the same_.

Cuddling usually meant she was staying the night, which would be the first time since school started that she did so. But after half an hour of more cuddling, Claudia detached herself from him and left the bed, picking up her underwear, skirt, and blouse.

"Where are you going?" he asked, disappointed. She looked at him, at least having the decency to look sorrowful. Bitterness tinged his next words. "Back to your dad's project?"

"I'm sorry, Callum. But it's really important!" Claudia saw that he remained unconvinced, and sighed. "I get it. I wish I could tell you, I think you'd understand. But my dad insists that the less people that know, the better."

"Hrmph. Right." He looked away from her, his stomach in flux. "Your dad always loved his secret cabals."

Her hand came to his cheek, turning his head back to her. "I swear, I'll make it up to next weekend." Her lips curved up in a small smile. "But for now, I think we both need a shower."

His uneasiness from earlier was gone, now that she wasn't trying to egg him on. "I think that you're right." He rose from the bed, and got a giggle out of Claudia by pinching her behind, as they made their way to his bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Included a picture of a falx (The crescent blade) and a Flammenschwert for those who might be curious. Yes, Callum told Amaya about Ethari. (And maybe one of the swords wasn't for her :P).
> 
> Next chapter will be up Sunday. Hope you enjoyed this, leave a kudos if you did. If you already have, then danke schoen!


	7. Circle the Wagons Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla and Kazi join Callum, Marcos, Claudia and Ezran for a pre-game tailgate. Rayla gets into an altercation, and notices Claudia's standoffish behavior and bigoted attitudes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has 2000 hits! Thank you to all my readers! 
> 
> Rayla POV for this chapter.

Rayla really wished that the Institute would start selling school-branded tops with zippers or buttons. The pullover hoodie she had bought in anticipation of today's game was a pain to get on because of her horns.

Kazi's horns were shorter, so they had much less difficulty getting their pullover sweater on. The Sunfire elf had been antsy all morning, and barely ate anything for breakfast. They instead spent their time reciting their list of questions for Callum.

Out loud. It didn't take long for Rayla to snap at them. Kazi began whispering the questions, apparently not realizing that Moonshadow ears were a tad more sensitive than those of the other elven subgroups. But she didn't want to berate the timid linguist again, so she suffered in irritated silence.

Unlike Kazi, she had a big lunch, consisting of a big bowl of noodles and a plate full of apple slices. The spectators couldn't bring in their own food, and Callum had told her there was little in the way of vegetarian food options at the concession stands, unless she was willing to have a huge bucket of popcorn for lunch.

She wasn't, so she stuffed herself instead. Rayla wasn't too worried about the consequences. If there was one thing the humans were good at, it was having plenty of mostly clean bathrooms.

The two of them left their dorm at one in the afternoon, even though the game didn't start until fifteen after four. Callum wanted them to join him for a 'tailgate'. "We set up chairs around Marcos' truck in the parking lot, drink, eat some wings, and talk about whatever we want while we watch another game on my laptop," he had explained.

He also added that it was common tradition for football fans to tailgate before a game. It didn't make much sense to her, but decided that she would probably figure it out eventually. There had been many things about human culture Rayla found to be inane and nonsensical, only for Callum to perfectly explain them.

Traffic was pretty heavy; normally the crosswalk lights were easily ignored. But it seemed as if half of Katolis was showing up for the game. She still couldn't believe the number of people that could be seated in the stadium. The entirety of the Silvergrove's population would barely fill a single section.

As they walked on the outside edge of the massive parking lot, Rayla scanned the signs for Section A, where Callum had said they'd be located. She spotted it after a minute of walking and looking, and saw it was the closest to the north entrance.

It would have been quicker to make a beeline for the section, but one thing that had been incredibly apparent was the lack of other elves. She could count the number she had seen on one hand. 

Without other elves around, Rayla felt very...isolated. And a bit threatened. Thousands of possibly elf-hating humans, drinking and getting riled up in anticipation of watching a violent sport. She hadn't brought any weapons, since Callum told her that it would cause a lot of trouble at the security checkpoint. And it was just her and Kazi, who couldn't intimidate a jackalope. 

When they reached a spot perpendicular to Section A, Rayla took a breath, and started walking through the row of cars. "Keep an eye out for Callum," she told Kazi. "He's with a girl with long dark hair, and an older human with spiked up black hair. Pickup truck with silver paint."

She could feel some of the humans stare at them as they walked by. A few whispered about how it was strange for elves to show up to a football game. Others muttered insults. But fortunately, no one made threats or moved to accost them.

They had made halfway through the row of cars when Kazi spotted Callum's group. A bit of relief washed over Rayla. Suddenly, an errant oval-shaped ball bounced off the ground and hit her roommate right in the nose. She spun around to see a group of humans, some of their fellow students, standing around a black truck. "Hey!" she shouted indignantly. "Watch where you're throwin' that!"

One human rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, outing himself as the thrower. He opened his mouth to apologize, but another human stepped forward. "Maybe you should watch where you're walking, pointy head. Maybe you'll walk back to where you came from."

If he was trying to rile her up, he succeeded. Rayla stepped forward with her fists clenched, brushing off Kazi's hand when they reached out to grab her shoulder. The human stepped forward aggressively, raising his own fists. She quickly threw a punch that connected with his right jaw, sending him staggering backwards.

Two of the other humans moved to join the fight. "Shite," she muttered under her breath. One of the humans was a great big lunk, taller than Runaan and about five stone heavier. There was no way she could take him down quick enough for the other two to not take her down.

Out of her peripheral, she saw someone running towards them. She didn't turn to look, knowing that one of her attackers would likely use the distraction to strike. "Leave her alone!" the person cried out. It was Callum. He skidded to a halt a few feet away from her. "I'm sure this is all just a misunderstanding! It's her first football game and I forgot to tell her about people throwing balls around in the parking lot and-"

"Shut up string bean," growled the human that had insulted her. "She punched me in the face. I don't see what there is to misunderstand about that. Now stop defending Miss Knife-Ears and fuck off." The prince did not move, even though Rayla could see the fear in his eyes. "Looks like I'm going to have to make you fuck off."

Before the human could take a step towards Callum, she stepped in between the two. "First, you insult and attack me after your friend hit mine in the face with a ball. Now you're threatenin' your own prince?" The human stopped dead in his tracks, eyes widening. He looked Callum up and down, and realized his grave error.

He stepped back, throwing up his hands in apology. "S-sorry, Prince Callum. I didn't know it was you." It was the bully's turn to be fearful, as he tried to make himself look small. "Please don't have me arrested."

Rayla glanced towards Callum, who was standing a bit straighter now. "Apologize to my friends here, and I'll consider Rayla's punch to be punishment enough." There was a regal quality to his voice now, commanding and measured. It was a tone she had never heard from him before. It seemed as though he remembered that he was an actual prince, that he had real power.

The other human reluctantly turned to her and Kazi. "I'm sorry for calling you those things. It was wrong." The grimace on his face told her that he wasn't sorry in the slightest, but seeing him humbled was plenty satisfying.

"Your apology is accepted," she told him, letting a little smugness seep into her words. Rayla looked at Kazi, who was lost in the moment. They snapped out of it, and echoed her sentiment. Callum led them away, towards his friend's truck.

"Sorry about that," he apologized. "I should've known that it would happen." He stopped, and turned to Kazi. "Oh, I'm an idiot. I forgot to introduce myself. Well you already know who I am, but I don't know who you are." Callum frowned. "That came off ruder than I intended. Not that I intended to be rude, just..."

"Callum it's alright," Rayla reassured him. "This is my roommate, Kazi." The Sunfire elf smiled a little, and gave him an tiny, shy wave. "They're a linguistics major, and they are _very_ interested in human sign language."

"It's true, Your Majesty." Callum's face scrunched up in discomfort. "Sorry, is it Your Highness? Your Eminence?" Kazi was becoming flustered. Rayla groaned internally at what had to be the most awkward two people to have a conversation.

"He just wants to be called by his name Kaz," she informed them in exasperation. "Let's keep movin', so people won't start noticin' how fuckin' awkward the two of you are."

She led the two on, as they continued the conversation with a much more smooth tempo, now that the introductions were out of the way. "So, what's got you so interested in human sign language?" Callum asked Kazi. "It sounds like elves already have their own version of it."

"I want to become a translator," they answered. "I was excited to meet you, because I know your aunt only knows sign, and I assumed that you would know it as well." They paused for a second. "If you do not know it, that is fine. I am just curious."

"I know it, but not as well as my aunt or her translator obviously." The three of them made it to Marcos' truck, where three humans were sitting in camping chairs around a folding table. A pretty woman her age with dark hair, who was obviously Callum's girlfriend. A twenty-something year old with spiked black hair and tanned skin, who she figured to be Marcos. And a young teenager with brown skin, blue eyes and curly hair. In his lap sat a strange looking amphibian that looked incredibly grumpy.

While the older two humans regarded her and Kazi with guarded expressions, the young human looked up at her with a warm, genuine smile. Rayla wondered who he was. He didn't look much like any of the other humans.

Callum went about introducing the two groups. "Kazi, Rayla, this is my girlfriend Claudia. She's studying nuclear engineering." The brunette gave them both a curt nod, though her lips stayed in a thin line. "This is Marcos. He served with Soren in the military, and is here studying computer science." He stepped behind the teenage human, and ruffled his hair affectionately.

"And this is Ezran, my little brother who decided to come at the last minute to hang out with the cool older people." It clicked in her head that Ezran and Callum were _half_ -brothers, explaining why they looked so different. Except for their kind smiles. _Queen Sarai must have been the sweetest person,_ Rayla decided.

Ezran scoffed. "You guys aren't that cool. I'm only here because Bait wanted to watch the football game." He held up the spotted amphibian, which croaked dutifully. The boy's smile turned a bit shy. "And I wanted to meet you, Rayla."

"Really?" she asked, a bit incredulous. "I hope you'll forgive my askin', but why me?" She sat down in a chair Callum provided for her, and accepted a beer from Marcos. "I'm not anythin' special." She screwed the cap off and took a sip. It wasn't as good as the Earthblood ale Runaan broke out from time to time, but it was a lot better than the cheap sewage that the convenience stores sold. 

"Everyone is special in some way," Ezran countered. "But I haven't really met any elves before. Except Mister Aaravos, but he's...weird. I don't mean it in a mean way, but..." He trailed off.

Rayla laughed. "Don't worry, I get what you're sayin'. He _is_ weird. He's also very, _very_ old. Even the Dragon Queen is only half his age, or so I've heard. Only Sol Regem is as old as him, I think." With the exclusion of Ezran, the humans' faces went dark at the mention of the former Dragon King. She nearly facepalmed at her faux pas. In her one year of living in Katolis, she had quickly learned how much humans hated the archdragon. After learning about what he had done, she could hardly blame them.

She looked at Kazi, hoping the Sunfire had picked up on the body language cues. The Elves of Lux Aurea revered Sol Regem, especially now that they were ruled by the bellicose anti-human Queen Khessa, and Rayla feared that her roommate might let some of that nationalistic zeal slip out.

It would appear that they had noticed, for they remained quiet. Ezran seemed to choose to ignore the heavy silence. "Do they have glow-toads in Xadia? Lord Viren said that they're magical creatures." As if to prove his statement, Bait briefly glowed bright, forcing Rayla to shield her eyes. "There's plenty of them here, so Xadia must be flooded with other Baits!"

"No," she responded, blinking heavily to recover from the brilliant flash of light. "At least, I don't think so." She turned to her roommate. "Kaz?" The glow-toad was probably connected to the Sun Primal.

"I have only seen them in our zoo. Our land didn't have enough bodies of water to support a large population. There were never many of them, even before the war came to Lux Aurea." They regarded Bait with great interest. "How are there so many of them here?"

"His nickname is a bit of dark humor on the part of our dad," Callum began to explain. Ezran frowned and covered Bait's ears. "Glow-toads are irresistible to deep sea fish, because of their glow and their taste. So fishermen used to breed them to use as bait fish. Not anymore, though. A law banning the breeding of glow-toads for fishing was passed thirty years ago, right around when Bait was born."

"Bait doesn't need to know how close he was to being a squid's snack!" Ezran complained, uncovering Bait's ears after he finished speaking. Callum shrugged, and got up to set up his laptop on the table.

Ezran shook his head indignantly, before continuing to talk. "After that law got passed, there were a lot of glow-toads sitting around. They couldn't all be reintroduced without hurting the environment, so a lot of them got sold as pets. They're pretty low maintenance, except if you don't pet them enough. Right Bait?" The toad croaked again.

 _Humans have a very strange taste in pets._ Elves kept pets of course, but _normal_ pets, like songbirds and small cats and canines. Rayla had seen humans with domesticated snakes, small wingless lizards, frogs, huge dogs, turtles, spiders, scorpions, rodents...and those weren't even considered _exotic_. She had seen pictures of pet 'alligators' that looked capable of bringing down a shadowpaw. And a banther, whose bite could crunch through armor.

Callum opened up the broadcast of another game on his laptop. "Flumeburg College versus the University of Our Lady," he explained. He started pointing out numbers and clocks at the bottom of the screen, and what they meant. "The team who controls the ball has four attempts to pass the first down marker...you score points by scoring a touchdown, kicking a field goal or and extra point after the touchdown...if the ball carrier is tackled in his own endzone having gained possession outside of it, it is a safety..."

All the information was giving her a headache. "Are all human sports this complex?" Rayla asked fearfully. Callum hadn't even begun to tell her the responsibilities of each player.

Marcos grinned. "Some are worse, like baseball and cricket. Nobody knows all the rules to those two." He drained the rest of his beer, and wiped his mouth. "Basketball and soccer are pretty easy to get. The fundamentals, anyway. Hockey too, though following it on TV is pretty hard."

Callum nodded in agreement, and turned to her. "Trust me, it gets easier to understand over time." He glanced over his shoulder. Rayla followed his gaze to see a fryer on the ground. "I think they might be ready, Marcos."

The older human got up to examine whatever was in the fryer. He hummed in satisfaction. "Indeed they are." He turned off the fryer and set it on the table, far from Callum's laptop. "What type of sauce is everyone having for the chicken wings?" Marcos looked at her and Kazi. "You two having any?"

Rayla shook her head. "No, I'm a vegetarian. Nearly all Moonshadow elves are." Kazi, however, nodded enthusiastically. Sunfire elves had no such cultural dietary restrictions.

"Buffalo sauce please," they requested. Marcos nodded as if he approved of the selection. Callum chose barbecue, while Claudia chose mild. Like Rayla, Ezran chose to abstain.

"I'm a vegetarian too," he told her. "I like animals way too much to eat them." Ezran glanced towards Callum, and smiled conspiratorially. "Except for fried grasshoppers. They're just too crunchy and sweet."

The other prince went a bit green. "Ezran, please leave discussions about your terrible taste in food for another time." He looked at her. "He's really not kidding, unfortunately. He and Bait munch them down by the bucket-load."

She cocked an eyebrow. "Really?" A thought crossed her mind, and she leaned forward tapping her fingers together. "They wouldn't happen to serve fried grasshoppers _here_ , would they?" Ezran nodded eagerly. "I think I'd like to try them."

Ezran laughed, while Callum grimaced in disgust. "Please don't encourage him." Rayla snickered, but stopped when she noticed Claudia glaring at her. _Jealous girlfriend alert_ , she thought to herself. _Or she's a racist_. She doubted it. Callum was shy, but principled. He wouldn't date someone like that.

Some commotion from the car opposite them caught her attention. Four elves, two who were Sunfire and two who were Earthblood, got out of a minivan. Marcos slowed down on applying the sauces, watching the group. Callum and Claudia were much more subtle, but they were stealing glances as well.

Marcos appeared to be staring at the female Sunfire. She looked like she was a few years older than Rayla, and had dark hair done in dreadlocks. She cut an attractive figure in short shorts and a KRI tee. The Sunfire noticed Marcos staring, and smiled shyly at him.

"I'm going to see if they want our extra wings," he declared. The human walked over to the elves. Rayla snorted in amusement. _Maybe sexual attraction is the real antithesis of hate_. She looked over at the rest of their group to gauge their reactions.

Callum also looked amused, and Ezran and Kazi looked like they had just seen an adorable puppy, like the sweet and innocent people they were. But Claudia looked like she had smelled curdled milk. Rayla turned her head away before the human could notice, and felt herself grow angry. She _was_ a racist.

Marcos returned with smile on his face. "Did you get her number?" Ezran asked eagerly. The older human blushed furiously, though a thin smile remained.

Once he finished tossing their group's wings, he brought the chicken and sauce over to the the other elves. They seemed a bit hesitant, but were eventually put at ease by what sounded like jokes from Marcos. The Sunfire girl was laughing the hardest, Rayla noted.

He came back over fifteen minutes later, still in a good mood. "I offered to let them sit near us, since we're all sitting in the student section. Is that alright with everyone?"

Everyone agreed that the arrangement was fine except for Claudia, who remained silent. The human hadn't said a word yet. Rayla glared at her, and caught Callum's eye. She gave him a demanding look, and he shrugged apologetically. _This is going to be a long day_ , she decided angrily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mean for the tailgate portion to take up the whole chapter, but it got away from me at some point. Next chapter will be up next Sunday, and it will actually be the football game!
> 
> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!


	8. Circle the Wagons Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The game goes underway. Tensions mount between Rayla and Claudia, with Callum caught in the crossfire. It's a good thing that Ezran's there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of football talk for the first two-thirds of the chapter, but there's Rayllum flirting mixed in, so you non-American football fans can breathe easy.

As they entered the student section of the stadium up through the stair hall, Callum glanced back at Rayla and Kazi in order to see their reactions to the inside of the stadium. They didn't disappoint too much.

Kazi's eyes widened at the size, but their reaction was a bit more tempered. They were from a big city; this was just another great spectacle to be admired for a few moments, and then promptly sent to the subconscious.

Rayla, however, looked completely flabbergasted. Her mouth hung open in a little, and her ears drooped down adorably.  _ I had no idea elves' ears could do that _ , he thought to himself.

Since they were among the first students to enter the stadium, their group had the king's choice of seating. They decided on the very first row, sitting right at midfield. The group of elves that Marcos had befriended sat down first. Callum hid his laughter as he noticed Marcos and the Sunfire girl subtly shift themselves in the group so that they would sit next to each other.

Kazi sat to the right of Marcos, Ezran next to them, then Rayla next to him. Callum ended up sandwiched between the Moonshadow and Claudia. He made sure he was physically in between the two girls, to prevent any infighting. He had noticed Rayla glaring at his girlfriend earlier. He didn't know why, but he suspected Claudia had not been hiding her mistrust very well.

Sitting next to Rayla turned out to be a bit of an error on his part, because Ezran left for the concession stand and returned with a bowl of honeyed, fried grasshoppers. He shared them between Rayla, Bait, and himself. The elf made sure to emphasize each crunchy bite, giving him a teasing side-eye at the same time.

"I knew you two would team up to torture me like this," Callum grumbled. He tried to ignore them by focusing on the field, but it was no good. He leaned over to Claudia. "Could you go get a big bucket of popcorn?" She nodded, and got up from her seat.

While she was gone, Callum pointed out a few of the players for Rayla. "That's our quarterback," he told her, indicating the player practicing his throws. "He leads the offense, when we have possession of the ball. He stands behind the center of the offensive line, which is five guys whose job is to protect him or the ball carrier from getting tackled. The center gives him the ball at the start of the play, and the quarterback either throws it to a receiver, or gives it to his running back, who is behind him."

She seemed to take a few seconds to absorb the information. "Okay, so when a team has the ball, they're on offense. So when they don't have the ball, they're on defense, right?" He nodded. "Seems simple enough. Who're the other fellas on offense?"

"The offensive line has two guards and two tackles in addition to the center. The tackles are on the ends of the line, and the guards are between the tackles and the center. A lot of the time, there will be one or two guys attached to the offensive line, called tight ends." Rayla giggled, and he couldn't stop himself from laughing a bit as well. "Get your mind out of the gutter," Callum scolded, trying to sound serious.

"Sorry, sorry." She looked at him and snorted slightly, trying to keep a straight face. "Please, continue." Her lips were trembling, threatening to break into a grin.

"As I was saying-" Rayla suddenly laughed, which made him break his concentration and laugh with her. They collected themselves after a couple of moments. "As I was saying, the tight end-" She started cackling all over again, causing him to stop yet again. "I'm just going to keep talking. He's often used as both a blocker and a receiver. Most tight ends specialize in either receiving or blocking. Receiving tight ends will sometimes line up with the wide receivers."

"Alright," she replied, rubbing her jaw. "And I'm guessin' the wide receivers' only job is to catch the ball?" He responded in the affirmative. "So, that's all of the positions on offense?"

"The ones that matter, yeah. On defense, you have three groups of players, with different responsibilities. Defenses with line up in 3-4 or 4-3, which refers to the number of defensive lineman and linebackers, respectively. The defensive line always rushes on passing plays. That's their only job."

"The linebackers have quite a few jobs. In a 3-4, one line backer always rushes the passer. Sometimes a linebacker will blitz, meaning he'll rush the quarterback. Sometimes he'll drop into coverage, meaning he'll either stay in a zone that he will defend from passes, or he'll follow the running back or a tight end in case the quarterback wants to pass to him. And if the quarterback is good at running the ball himself, a linebacker will be put in a 'spy' position, where he stays passive and waits to see if the quarterback tries to scramble."

"That's a lot to keep track of," Rayla said in a low voice. "Do linebackers specialize in one of those things? Sounds hard to be good at all of it."

"Yeah, pretty much all of them are only good at one or two of those responsibilities. There's only been a couple of linebackers in the history of football that could do all of those things well."

She nodded, taking it all in. "You said there were three groups of players on defense. What's the third group? Since you haven't mentioned who covers the wide receivers, is that the third groups' job?"

"Yeah, that's what they do for the most part. The third group is called the secondary. That's probably a bit confusing, but the d-line and the linebackers are usually grouped as a single unit since they work together so much. The secondary is comprised of two cornerbacks and two safeties. The cornerbacks cover the wide receivers."

"The safeties do a lot of stuff. Sometimes they stay way back, so if the ball carrier gets past the front seven, there's someone there to tackle them. But usually, they provide help to the cornerbacks and linebackers on coverage duties. The strong safety might be asked to cover a tight end, or he'll get close to the line if his team thinks a run play is imminent. The free safety might range around the field, looking for opportunities to intercept and catch a thrown football. If that happens, his team gains possession of the football."

"And is anyone on the defense able to intercept the ball?" she asked. Callum nodded. "Then why don't they try to do it every time? Or do they?"

"They don't. Hunting for interceptions is called 'ball-hawking', and it's very risky. When a defensive back tries to jump a receiver's route to intercept a thrown ball, they give up tackling position. So if the receiver makes the catch, they can gain a lot of ground, maybe even score a touchdown if there's no one else nearby."

"Makes sense." Rayla watched the field for a moment, clearly thinking about something. While they had been talking, the players had returned to the locker room. "So why isn't Soren on the team as a player? I know he's a bit older than the typical first year student. Is that why?"

"No," he answered. "He suffered a few concussions during high school- that's what we call the level of education before college and university education. His dad made him stop playing football and wrestling to avoid serious brain trauma. I can't say I blame Viren for doing that, but it really cut Soren deep, not being able to play his favorite sport."

Claudia sat down next to him, and seemed to have picked up on their conversation. "He was a linebacker, and really good at it. He could do it all. No one could block him or outrun him. He'd rush the quarterback, and tackle both him and the running back trying to block him. He'd make up his own plays on the fly. It drove his coach crazy, but it always worked." Sadness was cast over his girlfriend's eyes, and they grew a bit misty. "But he wouldn't stop tackling head first. His one bad habit ended his career."

"I'm sorry," Rayla said with sincerity. "No one deserves to have their dreams taken from them like that. I hope bein' a coach helps him somehow, makes him feel less...lost."

Callum stole a glance at Claudia. Her brow was furrowed, as if she couldn't figure out if the elf had really meant it. He gave the slightest of nudges, so Rayla wouldn't notice. It snapped Claudia out of her thoughts. "Uh, thanks," she awkwardly replied.

A few minutes later, the players ran out onto the field. The home crowd gave them a loud cheer, with the student section being the loudest, with him, Claudia and Ezran adding their voices. Kazi and Rayla were put off by the sudden noise, though Kazi gave a short 'whoop' as the cheering died down.

The opposing team, Towerton University, came onto the field next. The home crowd piled on the boos, and a few of the other students shouted obscenities. The two elves seemed to understand the concept more quickly this time, and both joined in the jeering, Rayla taking particular pleasure in doing so.

Both teams did their stretches and some warm-ups, and then cleared the field. The captains of each team joined each other on the field, accompanied by a referee. "Coin toss to decide who gets the ball first," he explained to Rayla and Kazi. "Whoever wins is going to kick the ball to the other team. This way, they'll start off the second half with control of the ball."

Their quarterback called heads, and KRI won the toss. As he expected, the team elected to kick the ball. The special teams unit ran onto the field, and a minute later, the kicker blasted the ball into the opposing endzone, starting off the game.

Despite receiving the kickoff deep in his own endzone, the Towerton returned attempted to bring the ball back. To his credit, he made the first man miss with a swift change in direction. But his sudden cut brought him into the sights of another KRI player, who was running at full tilt.

The returner was met at the twenty yard line, and Callum could hear the brutal crunch as the Towerton player was taken off his feet. The ball was knocked loose from his hands, causing the crowd to scream in excitement. The KRI players surrounded it like sharks with a bloody seal.

One of them dove on the ball, and players from both teams piled on top of him. The referees blew their whistles frantically, signalling an end to the play. They began to separate the pile, while KRI players pointed towards the opponent endzone. "They're saying that we have the ball," he told Rayla and Kazi. "If the refs point that way, then our team gains possession."

After a few more seconds of moving players apart, one of the referees pointed towards the Towerton endzone. The home crowd cheered raucously, as the two players who created the turnover were congratulated by their teammates and coaches. Soren was particularly amped up, giving both players a smack on their behinds. 

Rayla looked at Callum in confusion. "It's nothing like you're thinking," he said with a smile. "It's just how a lot of athletes congratulate each other. Don't ask me why, because I have no idea."

She just shook her head, still looking bemused. KRI's offense took the field at the fourteen yard line. The team had never failed to score upon reaching the red zone, and thirteen of those fifteen red zone scores had been touchdowns.

The offense lined up in shotgun formation, with three receivers out, and a tight end on the right side of the offensive line. The quarterback snapped the ball, and quickly threw it to the tight end, who was running to the right on a slant.

The quarterback must have noted a mismatch, because the linebacker assigned to defend that area in zone coverage was too small to take down the tight end, who was a monster of a man. The offensive player threw the linebacker off of him like he weighed nothing, and trucked through the free safety. The wide receivers did a great job blocking the other defensive backs, and the tight end walked it into the endzone with no further challenge.

The crowd roared as the tight end spiked the ball into the turf, and celebrated with his teammates. Callum looked at the scoreboard. _KRI: 6, AWAY: 0_. The game clock was 14:48. Once the cheering died down some, Kazi leaned over a bit. "Is it normal for a team to score so soon?" they asked.

"Not really," he answered. "But all sorts of crazy stuff happens in football. A single play can turn the tide of the whole game." Kazi nodded and leaned back. The KRI special teams unit came on to kick the extra point. Their kicker sent the football through the uprights, right down the middle.

KRI kicked off again, and this time, the Towerton returner was content to kneel down in the endzone and take a touchback. "Hey, he's got a different number," Rayla noted. "Did they send in someone else?"

"I guess so," Callum replied. "The Towerton coach was probably furious that the other guy decided to take it out of the endzone in the first place, and only got angrier when he fumbled it. When you make big mistakes like that as someone as easily replaceable as a kick returner, you get sent to the bench pretty quick."

Towerton's offense took the field, a little bit later than they expected. Surprisingly, the quarterback took the snap from under center, instead of from the gun. A mistake, because as soon as he finished dropping back, he was being chased by a blitzing linebacker. Under pressure, the quarterback threw an errant pass that hit the ground for an incompletion.

The next play was a run play, the running back trying to find a gap created by the defensive line. No such gap appeared, and the back was unceremoniously brought down by the right defensive end.

Faced with third down and ten yards to go, Towerton lined up in shotgun formation, with a four wide receiver set. The center snapped the ball, and the quarterback scanned the field. He found an open man who briefly shook the cornerback defending him, and it looked like Towerton would have a first down.

But in a Herculean effort, the cornerback managed to dive forward and smack away the ball at the last millisecond. The wide receiver could not corral it, and the ball fell to the ground, incomplete. The KRI defense had forced a three and out. 

The fumble recovery and the three and out set the tone for the rest of the first half. Katolis' offense dominated, while the defense only gave up five first downs and a single field goal. At the end of the half, the score was 24-3 in favor of KRI.

Since he had been so focused on the game and explaining it to Rayla and Kazi, Callum had neglected to eat his and Claudia's popcorn. He reached into the bucket, and felt something weird. Glancing down, he saw a fried grasshopper sitting on top of the half-eaten pile of popcorn.

He yelped, and retracted his hand. The commotion startled Claudia, and she looked down into the bucket, recoiling as well when she saw the dead insect. Rayla and Ezran were laughing to the point of tears, but stopped when they saw Claudia look ready to explode.

She angrily pointed a finger at the elf. "You really decided to put a grasshopper in his food? What the fuck is wrong with you!? Are you trying to stress him out?" Ezran became still as a mouse, while Rayla's face contorted with irritation.

Callum quickly put his hands on her. "Claudia, it's not a big deal." He glanced around, and saw that the other students around them were watching. His anxiety began scratching to the surface furiously. "Please don't make a scene," he pleaded quietly.

"It is a big deal! She thinks it's okay to put grasshoppers in your food, and laugh when it makes you uncomfortable! She's bullying you, and I'm not going to just sit here and watch her do it!"

Rayla opened her mouth to give a furious retort, but Ezran put a hand on her shoulder. "Claudia," he said, his voice calm but strong. "I was the one who tossed a grasshopper into the popcorn. And I laughed too. Don't single out Rayla." His little brother looked at him now. "Sorry for doing it Callum, it was mean. Of both of us." Rayla nodded, and muttered an earnest 'sorry'.

"It's alright guys, no harm no foul." He turned to Claudia, who silently sat back in her chair and looked forward. He sighed deeply, glad that the crisis had been averted. His anxiety ebbed away for the most part, though he knew he would have to deal with Claudia later.

Ezran's defusing of the situation was impressive. He didn't need to apologize, and neither did Rayla. But his little brother knew that they had to in order appease Claudia. It wouldn't surprise Callum to learn that Ezran lied about being the one to throw the grasshopper either. _Good thing he's the heir, and not me_.

The rest of the game went swimmingly. The team continued to dominate, Rayla and Claudia didn't try to kill each other, and the line to the bathroom wasn't too long. The game ended around 7:30, with a score of 41-13.

"Did you guys enjoy the game?" he asked the two elves as the group walked out of the stadium into the parking lot. "I kind of wish it had been closer, because the emotional roller coaster is a lot more...intense."

"It was a lot of fun!" Kazi responded enthusiastically. "I liked all of the code words that the throwing man would say before he got the ball from the...the...fat man?"

"The quarterback and the center Kaz," Rayla corrected with a smirk. "But yes, it was a lot more fun than I expected. We'll have to go for another game sometime." Callum, Ezran and Claudia stopped walking, and the elf cocked her head in puzzlement. "Are you not goin' home now?"

"No, we're waiting for Soren. We're going to drop off Ezran at home and go out drinking. Marcos _was_ going to be our ride, but..." He looked to where the ex-soldier was, and watched him walk off with Sabah, the Sunfire elf he had met during the tailgate. "It looks like something came up last minute." He hesitated a bit, and took the plunge. "If you two want to meet us somewhere, that'd be fine." Claudia was probably glaring at him right now, but it wouldn't feel right to _not_ invite them.

Thankfully and regrettably, Rayla and Kazi declined. "Sorry, I've got some school work that I'd prefer not to leave for tomorrow." Her roommate echoed the sentiment, adding that they intended to research the usage of code words in football. "Have a good night," Rayla bade him.

Unexpectedly, she stepped forward and gave him a firm hug. He blushed furiously as her chest pressed against his own, and halfheartedly returned the hug. Not because it didn't feel nice, because it really did, but because Claudia might skin him alive if he gave it his all. After a few unbearably awkward seconds, Rayla released him and gave a shy smile, before walking away.

 _Well, Rayla and Claudia can literally never be in the same place again._ He took a deep breath before turning to face Claudia, hoping Ezran's presence would blunt the oncoming hurricane of rage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More on the specifics of why Rayla decided to hug Callum in the next chapter. She might be a little bit in denial about it, though.
> 
> Claudia and Callum's relationship survived another chapter! But I've just finished making the coffin...Time to start digging the grave.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed, leave a kudos if you haven't already! See you all next week.


	9. Tea and Subterfuge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla helps Callum recover from a hangover, though she is thoroughly in denial of her growing feelings for him. Callum grows deeply suspicious of Viren and Claudia, and searches the office of the former with the help of Amaya. In the process, he discovers a mysterious connection to the ruins of Elarion and an artifact thought lost to the chaos of war.

Rayla loaded the medicinal tea bags into her athletic bag along with a change of gym clothes, and slung it over her shoulder. For whatever reason, her subconscious made her look in the mirror for the third time that morning.

A month into fall, the temperatures had begun to drop. It was chilly out according to her weather app, so she had opted for yoga pants, a flannel shirt with a tee, and a light jacket. It shouldn't have taken her thirty minutes to choose an outfit to go to the gym in, but it did anyway.

Callum would be too hungover to care about what she was wearing, anyway. And if the tea worked like it did for elven hangovers, then he wouldn't be inclined to criticize her outfit anyway. "So there's no reason to worry Rayla," she chided herself quietly as she walked out of her dorm.

There _was_ reason to worry, though. As much as she had enjoyed the look on Claudia's face after she hugged Callum goodbye, it probably put him in a supremely uncomfortable position the rest of the night. It wasn't fair to make him an instrument of her petty revenge.

She did genuinely want to hug him, though. He was a good friend, inviting her to the game despite his girlfriend's objections, standing up for her against those other humans despite his anxiety, patiently explaining the rules of football despite her joking. Being touch starved might have also had something to do with it. Since her girlfriend had broken up with her when she moved to Katolis with Ethari and Runaan, Rayla had zero physical contact with others in the last year.

Not that she viewed Callum as a romantic partner or anything. He was a human, he was too...different. _Ugh, how'd I even start thinking about this?_ Rayla slipped in her earbuds, hoping some peaceful harp music would calm her mind.

Callum's apartment complex was on the other side of campus, giving her quite the walk. She didn't mind, though. The air was crisp and fresh, and the stone walkways were empty of foot traffic, given that it was 8:13 on a Sunday morning. Her human friend wouldn't be the only student recovering from a night of drinking.

Rayla had accompanied him to his complex once, when he needed to retrieve his laptop charger. It was better than waiting for twenty minutes in the study room. And she might have taken the liberty of watching him put in the passcode for the main entrance. She hoped he did a better job of hiding his PIN number for his credit card.

Once she was inside, it took a good twenty minutes of searching before she found the door with his name on it. As she prepared to knock, she heard footsteps down the hallway. Slight panic over being caught at Callum’s door caused her to take a sort of defensive posture.

She relaxed when she saw it was Marcos. “Oh, it’s you. I didn’t know you lived in the same buildin’ as Callum.” Rayla took in his appearance, and noticed that he was taking care to hide his neck. Then she remembered that he hadn’t gone drinking with the others. "Looks like you had a good time last night," she teased.

Marcos flushed a deep red, and mumbled a "yeah" before quickly unlocking his door and retreating into his apartment. She chuckled, and knocked on Callum's door. A few moments passed, so she pounded on the door with the heel of her fist. _What if Claudia stayed the night?_ The thought gripped her with fear. The prejudiced, jealous human probably wouldn't react well to see Rayla at her boyfriend's door.

Rayla was strongly considering simply leaving the tea at the door and sending Callum a text when the door opened. Thankfully, it was the prince that opened the door, and not his overly-possessive griffin of a girlfriend.

His face was pale and haggard, and his eyes widened in surprise to see her at his door. "Rayla? How the hell did you get in here?" His voice was groggy, but a couple of octaves deeper than usual. He didn't seem too upset to see her, because he moved out of the door frame to let her in.

"I might have peeked when you put in your passcode that one time." Rayla set her bag down on his dining table, and took in his apartment. It was quite spacious, just as big as Ethari and Runaan's. The kitchen was a real kitchen, not just a microwave and a toaster like her dorm. There was a stainless steel fridge, an oven with an electric stove, a toaster oven, a coffee machine, a large sink, and even a _dishwasher_.

The living room was similarly well-appointed. A long white sofa and a pair of cushioned chairs on either side of it faced a large flat screen television. Between the TV and the furniture was a mahogany coffee table, and underneath that was a decorative rug that encompassed the whole floor space between the sofa and the television.

There was no sign of Claudia. No purse, not women's shoes, and Callum didn't smell of her perfume. "Your girlfriend didn't stay the night?" she asked, as innocently as was physically possible for her.

Callum snorted. "Hasn't for the past month," he replied bitterly. "She didn't even go drinking with us." A bit of color returned to his face. "Claudia wasn't exactly thrilled when you hugged me goodbye. Or that I returned it." His face was now pink instead of gray. "Not that I thought you meant it like, _that_ , but..." He sighed, sounding exhausted. "I'm sorry she was acting so badly."

"It's okay, Callum. It's nothing you could control. I should be the one apologizin' for puttin' you in that situation. Which is why I'm here." She pulled the package of tea out of her bag. "I figured you'd be feelin' sick, so I brought this. You humans might've figured out the cures for a lot of things, but nothin' you have can cure hangover like lunabloom tea. Besides, I need my workout partner to be in tip-top shape."

The human groaned. "I think I'd prefer to just deal with the hangover the usual way." Rayla ignored him, and set about looking for a tea kettle. "Cabinet next to the coffee machine," Callum told her grumpily. "Don't think I've ever used it before."

Rayla filled the tea kettle with tap water, and set it on the electric stove to boil. She turned back around to face Callum, who was rummaging in another cabinet for food. "So, why isn't Claudia stayin' over anymore? Too much schoolwork?" She knew that couldn't be the case; she could easily do her work at Callum's apartment.

His hands left the cabinet, clutching a pair of granola bars in one hand, and a protein bar in the other. "Working on some project with her dad. She says her dad told her that she can't tell me what is." He scoffed. "Matter of national security. For what, a new nuclear power plant?" Callum looked at her, the hurt apparent in his green eyes. _They're too pretty to look that sad_ , Rayla thought, her heart sinking.

"It feels like she doesn't trust me at all. And I'm not sure why. Does she think that I'll spill it? Or that I won't like it?" His lips curled down in an angry frown. "Or does she just care more about pleasing her dad than me?"

Her blood boiled in fury, directed towards Claudia. Rayla wondered how anyone could be so neglectful of their romantic partner, especially one as kind and sweet as Callum. She wanted to rant about how terrible his girlfriend was, how she was a possessive bigot, and that he could do better.

But she didn't. It wasn't her place to do that, it wasn't her right to try to break up his relationship. He needed to come to that conclusion himself. _And it wouldn't look good_. If she did try to convince him to dump Claudia, it might look like she had been right to be jealous.

All she could do was let him vent for now. "I'm sorry. It isn't right of her to leave you out of the loop like that. You should talk to her about, like _really_ press her for answers. Don't let her brush you off. I know it makes you uncomfortable, but you have the right to know why she's being so distant."

Callum was silent for a long minute, as he poured himself a glass of milk. He set it down on the counter, and rested his elbows against the granite. He collapsed his head into his hands, running his fingers through his hair. He sighed shortly, and picked himself back up. "You may be right," he admitted.

She put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "I know you can do it, Callum. I saw the confidence there yesterday, with those humans threatenin' me and Kaz." Rayla withdrew her hand. "Go on, eat and get your mornin' goin'. I'll make the tea for you."

The human ate his breakfast, and then left the table to take a quick shower. By the time he returned, the tea was nearly done brewing. Callum had donned a pair of black sweatpants and a gray long sleeve shirt, and had the crisp smell of deodorant wafting off of him. He was a little less pale, though he still looked nauseous.

"Good, you only look sort of dead now," she teased. Despite his condition, he smirked a little. Callum poured himself a cup of water and sat back down at the table, raising a hand to his forehead and groaning slightly. "Don't worry, it's almost ready."

After another minute, she retrieved a mug from his cabinet and filled it with the sweet-smelling tea. Rayla gave it to the prince, who took a cautious sip. He raised his eyebrows, and nodded slightly. "Pretty good for medicinal tea," he said, taking a second, deeper sip. He cringed in pain as he burned his mouth, eliciting a giggle from her. _Since when do I giggle?_

He frowned at her, which succeeded only in making her giggle even more. "Sorry. But how'd you not know to take your time with a hot drink? You've a coffee maker right there?"

Callum let out a short laugh. "I never use that, either. Claudia uses it when she comes over. Soren has been using it too, since his machine broke last week and he's too lazy to order a new one. I never got into coffee. And after seeing the way Claudia gets when she hasn't had any for a day, I think I'm better off for it."

"Hmm." Rayla took a seat at the table while Callum waited for the tea to cool down. "When I got here, I saw Marcos doing the-what do humans call it? The 'walk of shame'?" Callum's mouth stretched out in an amused grin.

"Good for him. I remember he used to be gung-ho about the war, since he was in the military. He and Soren would talk a lot about Xadia surrendering like the Pentarchy had beaten another team in football, instead of having concluded a centuries-long war. I wonder what changed. Or if nothing did, and Marcos felt like he had to act that way to prove that he was...tough? Patriotic?" He shrugged, and sipped his tea.

"They acted that way because they never experienced war firsthand. Or its effects." Rayla twiddled with her thumbs, and locked her eyes with his. "Not like us. I told you that Ethari and Runaan are my foster parents, didn't I?" Callum nodded. "You've probably figured out my parents were lost in the war."

"It was at the Storm Spire, after the king was slain. They led a hopeless charge against the human tanks. Their bodies were never found. Sometimes I think that was a good thing, because I wouldn't have to see what their bodies looked like. But it also lets some small part of me trick myself into thinkin' they're still alive." There was a mixture of emotions in Callum's eyes, sympathy most of all. "What happened to your father?" she blurted out, her curiosity getting the best of her. "If you don't want to-"

"No. It's fine." Callum stared into the mug of tea, clutching it with both hands. "He was an army engineer, a colonel in the Royal Engineers. He oversaw the construction of camps, forts, trenches, basically anything that the military needed building. He was overseeing the construction of a bridge that would allow my aunt's tank battalion to cross a river. An Earthblood mage collapsed the bridge while he was still standing on it."

He got up from the table, and left for his room. He returned a short time later, carrying a silver necklace. Attached to the chain was an emerald, surrounded by wood. "This is all that I have of him. A necklace he gave to my mom. I was only one when he died, so when I try to remember his face, all I can see are a couple of pictures."

They spent the next few minutes in tranquil silence, sharing in the grief that war had brought upon them. Callum finished his tea and stood up to put it in the dishwasher, leaving the necklace behind on the table. Rayla got up as well, and followed him as he moved to leave.

But before he opened the door, he turned to her. "It sounds kind of weird and cliche, but I'm glad I met you Rayla. It's nice having someone who can really understand."

She gave him a sad but encouraging smile. "It's not weird at all. I feel the same way." He smiled back at her, and the two left for the gym. But not before Callum stopped to tease Marcos about his Sunfire dalliance.

* * *

Callum stewed as he walked through the halls of the castle. After his talk with Rayla earlier that morning, he had confronted Claudia about her secrecy. As he had expected, she made the usual excuses, sweetened with the usual ‘I wish I could tell you’ sentiments. Then she left, and obviously he would never try to physically restrain her from leaving.

Her behavior was making him grow increasingly suspicious of what she and Viren were up to. What could two nuclear engineers be up to that was too sensitive for anyone other than themselves to know? The answer his mind kept coming up with chilled him to his core.

Did his father know? Callum knew kings sometimes had to do unscrupulous things, but Harrow would never do anything to jeopardize the peace, especially not something so...brutal. But Callum couldn't just go up to the king and accuse his best friend of developing nuclear weapons. He needed proof.

The only person he could think to go to was Amaya. His aunt must have shared his concerns, because she told him she was on her way to the castle, and immediately hung up the video call. That was at eleven in the morning, right after he got back from the gym.

It was well into the evening now, as he awaited her arrival. He felt deeply nervous, the kind of nervousness you felt going onto a roller coaster. Only amplified by a factor of ten. It wasn't fear of being discovered; Viren couldn't harm them if they were caught poking around his office.

It was the consequences that would ensue if Callum's fears were proven to be well-founded. The laws of Katolis and the Pentarchy were clear; the development of nuclear weapons was a war crime. Viren would go to prison, and Claudia probably would as well. Soren couldn't be involved, but Callum wouldn't be surprised if the blonde hated him for getting his family arrested.

He heard the sound of hard leather boots striking against stone. Callum turned to see his aunt striding towards him, accompanied by Commander Gren. " _Cow anus is talking with dad in the conference room,_ " he signed to her. " _I was thinking that we should poke around his office._ " 'Cow anus' was how Amaya referred to Viren, since she claimed nothing came out of him but bullshit. It usually made both of them laugh, but not this time.

" _Good,_ " she signed back. " _You and I will search his office, while Gren keeps watch outside. If cow anus comes to the office, Gren will distract him so we can leave without being seen. He won't be able to contact us, so keep your ears alert Callum._ "

They walked to Viren's office, keeping a lookout for the Minister of Defense. The coast was clear, so Amaya unlocked the door with Harrow's master key, while Gren positioned himself in an alcove in the hallway. Callum entered alongside his aunt.

The minister's office was normal enough. In the center of the room was a model of a new type of nuclear reactor that Claudia had mentioned to him months ago. In the corner was Viren's desk, a large slab of marble with multiple monitors and a powerful computer. On the other side of the room was a large white sofa that looked rather comfortable. Since his quarters were on the other side of the castle, Callum assumed that the engineer often fell asleep on the couch while working late.

In the back of the room was a thick wooden door with an old-fashioned lock. Amaya tapped his shoulder and pointed to the desk, then produced a lockpicking kit. "Of course you would know how to pick locks." She smirked, and walked to the door.

Callum started searching the drawers of Viren's desk, making sure to listen for any noise outside. There were numerous files, most of them smelling musty, as if they hadn't seen the light of day in months. They were just piles of efficiency reports, inspection records, and operating costs. Nothing worth much attention, since not even Viren appeared to view the records.

He was about to give up, when he noticed the last draw had numerous fingerprints on it, left by oily hands. Viren had been it using often, and recently. Callum opened the drawer, and examined the files inside. All of them were in some way related to Elarion. _Weird,_ Callum thought. The archaeological dig at the ruins of the city was not under Viren's jurisdiction as the Minister of Defense.

It was possible that he had just taken an interest in Elarion for history's sake, but in that case, Callum wondered why it was filed with work-related documents instead lying somewhere in Viren's personal quarters. He decided it was worth examining.

He had no time to read the fifty pages of reports, and Viren would notice if they were gone, so he started taking pictures as quickly as possible. It took him roughly two minutes to photograph the whole document.

When he finished, he turned to see that his aunt had opened the door in the back and turned on a light. Callum put the files back in the drawer, and went to the back room. It was full of Elven items, looted during the war. Swords, gems, jewelry, and magical staves. Amaya looked furious, though he couldn't tell why.

Something in the corner of the room flashed, drawing Callum's attention. A blanket was thrown over a spherical object on a pedestal, though the orb occasionally flashed light through the fabric. He pulled the blanket off, and gasped in wonder at what he saw.

The surface of the orb was like hard glass, thick but transparent. Inside the orb was a miniature storm, complete with sheets of rain and quiet thunder brought on by small flashes of lightning. "A Primal Stone," he breathed out in awe. He had read about them in history class, though he had never expected to see one in real life. They were supposed to have all been lost, destroyed during the war or stolen by elves to deny humans the ability to use magic.

But here one sat, like a piece of art that someone had tired of displaying and had thrown in the attic to collect dust. Callum couldn't just leave it there. It was an important part of human history, and a powerful magical artifact. _I should take it to Professor Aaravos_. He picked up the Stone, and searched for a suitable replacement. An old cannonball lying on the floor looked perfect for the job, and he placed it on the pedestal, throwing the blanket back over it.

Callum walked up to Amaya, and showed her the Primal Stone. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she looked at him. " _I thought they were all gone,_ " she signed.

"Me too. I found a lot of files about the dig at Elarion in Viren's drawer, too many for it too be a coincidence. I couldn't look it over quickly enough, but I think there's something going on there."

Before his aunt could answer, he heard Gren's voice from outside. "Ah, Minister! I was hoping to catch you here. Mind if we talk for a moment? I won't take up too much of your time." Callum scuttled up to the office door to listen in.

"Commander," came Viren's cool reply. "I didn't know you'd be here. I assume the general is here then?" A pause. "I didn't see her. I'm surprised she was able to tear herself from the Breach operation. How fares the collaboration with the Sunfire elves?" Two pairs of footsteps could be heard, becoming more faint.

Callum turned to Amaya, and gestured for her to leave. She turned off the back room light and locked the door, and they hurriedly left after he peeked down the hallway to make sure Viren was looking the opposite way.

" _Send me the pictures you took of the documents. If it looks suspicious, I'll make an unannounced visit to Elarion, with Harrow's authority. I may need to take armed soldiers with me, in case the dig has a darker purpose."_ Amaya's face turned into a scowl. " _If that asshole jeopardized the peace, I'll gut him myself._ " She pointed to the Primal Stone. " _Keep that hidden, especially from Claudia. Understand_?"

"Yes," he replied grimly. His aunt hugged him and ruffled his hair, then left. Callum looked down at the orb, as it crackled with magic. _All of the_ _power of the sky, in the palm of my hand_. Something about the Stone just felt... _right_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter went a little bit longer than I intended, but I suppose that's not a problem for most of you.
> 
> The Rayllum flower is beginning to sprout, while Claudium is on pace to wilt into nothing. I think I might keep doing these little metaphors for the next few chapters.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you next Sunday! (Or Monday, depending on your timezone :P)


	10. Regarding TTM fanfics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NOT A CHAPTER UPDATE  
> This is about what the chapter title implies it to be

First things first; sorry if you thought this was a legitimate update. If I ever deviate from my normal posting time, I will do my damndest to inform my readers beforehand.

This is about Through the Moon, its premature release by Amazon UK, and a few fanfics that have already sprouted up.

I'm disappointed and frustrated at what feels like a lack of restraint and awareness. Everyone knows that TTM was released A MONTH earlier than it was supposed to, and only for people who ordered from Amazon UK. With that in mind, I feel us authors need to exercise caution in any stories we write regarding the graphic novel, at least until it has become available to everyone.

That means taking _extreme_ care in titling, summarizing, and tagging the TTM works. Even if you don't offer specifics in the summary, and you put a spoiler tag, it can still provide minor spoilers to those scrolling through the archive. The titles of the two recent fanfictions born of TTM hint heavily at the ending of the book, and both of the stories has tags that describe the general mood of the ending.

If you are going to post stories related to TTM, you should heavily curate your tags, your summary, and your title in order to spoil as little information as possible. Either that, or just wait for another month to post it. It's only fair, since that's how long most people are going to have to wait to read the actual novel.

As for myself, I ordered a copy yesterday from the UK, and it's arriving next Wednesday. I may write a one-shot based on it, and if I do, I'm going to wait until ample time has passed for people to have read the graphic novel.


	11. Good and Bad Moon Rising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum shows the Primal Stone to Aaravos, and gets an assignment. Rayla inadvertently discovers the stone, and is uncomfortably present for a confrontation between Callum and Claudia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was worried this one would be shorter because it was a bit of a slog, but I managed to break 3000 words. You'll notice I have changed the chapter count; we aren't quite midway through the story yet. But we're close.

"This is exactly what you assume it to be," the professor told him as he carefully cradled the orb. "A Sky Primal Stone, gifted to humanity over a millennium ago." Aaravos' eyes left the stone to rest upon Callum. "How did you come to have possession of it?"

Callum rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I...kind of stole it from Minister Viren? It was just laying around in his storage room, and I thought it was a waste to have something so valuable collecting dust. It should at least be in a museum, instead of a weird treasure horde." Smuggling the stone to the professor's office had been a bit of a struggle, but it became simpler when wrapped it in a heavy blanket and stuffed it in a backpack.

"Quite right." The elf placed the stone on his desk. "Even in this age of technology and information, magic still has use. If a human were to master sky magic, that would mean the hurricanes that batter Evenere from summer to fall could be sent off course. The tornadoes that wreak havoc on Duren and northern Katolis could be calmed. Droughts could be ended, and flooding rains could be prevented."

Aaravos stepped away to attend to the bookshelves in the back of his office. He searched through the top bookshelf, and pulled out an old looking book, with a faded light blue hard cover. The pages seemed to be in good condition, despite their yellow color.

"I have an additional assignment for you, Callum." The professor handed him the book, upon which a white rune was embroidered. The symbol resembled three gusts of wind. "Take the Stone home, and study this spell book. Meet me in a week, at the peak of Mount Katolis. Show me what you have learned then."

Before Callum could even begin to protest, Aaravos cast a spell that transported the stone and the book into his backpack and ushered him out the door. He stood there for a few moments, flabbergasted.  _ Did I just get assigned magic homework by my astronomy professor?  _ He had no idea on whether he should feel excited or overwhelmed.

He went back to his apartment, trying to look as cool and collected as possible. It was stupid to assume that anyone would even suspect him of having stolen the Stone; it's not as if any of the students knew it existed, let alone that it was missing from Viren's storage room. Even the minister himself probably didn't notice its absence yet.

Callum retreated into his room, putting his backpack down on his desk that was opposite of his bed and drawing the shades of his window down out of paranoia. Satisfied with the level of secrecy, he pulled the Primal Stone and the spell book out of his bag and placed them on the desk.

Sitting down, he opened up to the first page of the book and saw that it was in Draconic. Which he didn't know. Callum cursed, and got up to look around for a translation guide in the one hundred books that Harrow had given him in the summer.

"Cookbook, cookbook, agenda book as if I would ever need one, sketchbook, Elven to Common..." There was no sign of a Draconic to Common dictionary. "Not like he could ever envision me needing one in college," Callum muttered to himself. There were no dragons in KRI, as professors _or_ students. _Do dragons even go to school?_

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud banging on his apartment door. He yelped in surprise, toppling over his chair and sprawling onto the floor. He picked himself up, and cautiously made his way to the door. He took the taser he had for personal defense with him.

Whoever it was pounded on the door three more times, confirming for Callum that it wasn't campus police. _They would have announced themselves by now_ _, especially for me_. He cautiously approached the door, taser in his right hand. "Callum?" a voice called. _Rayla_ _?_

He peered through the spyhole, and sure enough, there stood the Moonshadow elf, her biker helmet under her arm. She looked a bit concerned, her lips turned down slightly, and her brow furrowed. Something about her looked a little...different. Then he realized that she was wearing a bit of mascara and lipstick. _Weird, she's never worn any makeup before_. 

Callum opened the door to let her in. She was wearing her black leather jacket with a white tee and blue jeans, her usual. Though the shirt and the jeans seemed to hug her tighter than they had before. He tried not to look for too long. "What are you doing here?"

"Thought it'd be simpler to just come here than get a study room in the library," she answered. Rayla looked down at his right hand and cocked her head. "What's that thing you've got there?"

"Huh?" He realized he was still holding the taser, and slipped it into his pocket. "It would take too long to explain." Callum gestured to her face. "Do you have a date or something? I've never seen you wear mascara or lipstick before." For whatever reason, his heart skipped a beat in anticipation of her answer.

Rayla's cheeks tinged red. "No," she denied harshly. "I just felt like wearin' makeup, anythin' wrong with that?" He raised his hands in appeasement, backing away by a step. The elf walked all the way in, and tossed her backpack and helmet onto the dining table.

It was strange that she thought it would be easier to come to his apartment. Her dorm building was on the opposite side of the campus; the science library was closer by at least ten minutes walking. She had obviously taken her motorcycle, but given how hectic traffic could get in the late afternoon with commuters, that wasn't very quick either. But he didn't say anything, since he already annoyed her.

"I didn't interrupt anythin', did I?" Rayla asked, pulling her hair back and fluffing it with a smirk. His heart fluttered again, much to his irritation. "I think I heard you topple over when I knocked on your door. I know Claudia hasn't been comin' over, but I didn't think you'd be _that_ desperate."

"Oh no, you're not going to get me all flustered! I fell out of my chair because I was super-focused on an extra assignment Professor Aaravos gave me, which caused me to be startled when you tried to punch through my door." Okay, maybe he had resorted to looking at lewd pictures Claudia had sent him months ago. But Callum would be damned if he ever admitted that to Rayla.

"He gave you an extra assignment?" _Just had to open your big dumb mouth, didn't you Callum?_ Rayla sniffed the air. "Why does it smell like it's about to rain? Did you leave a window open?" Rather than wait for his answer like a sane person, the elf walked straight for his bedroom.

"No Rayla, wait!" But it was too late. She walked into his room, and he heard a loud gasp. "Shit." Callum jogged into his room, where Rayla stood staring at the primal stone. She looked back at him, with her mouth agape and her eyes looking like saucers. He sighed, knowing there was no way any lie he could come up with would fool her.

"Remember how I said it would take too long to explain earlier? I think we need to sit down."

* * *

If she hadn't seen the Primal Stone with her own eyes, Rayla doubted that she would believe Callum's story for a second. "So why did Viren just have the stone lyin' around in the back room of his office? What was he doin' with it?"

The human shrugged. "No idea. Maybe he couldn't figure out how to use it, and decided to hide it instead of admitting guilt to the theft of an ancient magical artifact." He looked troubled and uncertain. "I don't know if I should have it, either. These weren't meant to be controlled by one person, but by the people. I want to learn how to use it, but..." He shook his head.

"Can you use it?" she asked. "I mean, can you physically use it? I heard that not every human can just pick up a stone and make it work, just like how not every elf can use magic." It didn't make much sense to her, since humans couldn't use their own magic. Perhaps it had been the will of the gods, to ensure that even with Primal Stones, humans wouldn't be able to wield magic like elves and dragons.

Callum shrugged. "Aaravos seemed to think so, and he's the most powerful wizard ever, so I'm not about to doubt his judgement." He tapped the cover of the old Sky spellbook. "I haven't tried yet; I had just opened to the first page when you knocked. The whole thing is in Draconic, so I need to find a translation guide or something."

Rayla got up in order to sit right next to him. "I can understand a bit. All the kids in my village had to study for at least a year, though only the mages really studied it beyond that. By the moon, I hated them." She could still conjure up their smug, sneering faces, taunting her over the pointlessness of common soldiers like her parents.

" _Shut up farm animal_ ," she would shoot back. The war had made elves desperate; magic was the one advantage they had over humans. Mages were expected to have as many children as possible. Especially the male ones; they could impregnate as many women as needed, and they didn't have to leave the battlefield when their child was due.

The most powerful mages got their pick of breeding partners, but her mother had been spared that fate thanks to her position in the Dragonguard. But very few female Moonshadows had that luxury. The thought of it made Rayla recoil in disgust. _We would turn to sanctioning rape-driven breeding programs before considering surrender_.

"Rayla?" Callum asked, peering at her. "Is something wrong?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I feel like you were lying to me about not going on a date." _Why on earth did I decide it would be a good idea to wear makeup?_

"I'm not goin' on a date, Callum! I was just thinkin' about somethin' that's got nothin' to do with this. But if my mascara and lipstick are so distractin' to you, I'll never put them on again."

"No, it's not distracting! I think it looks good on you, it just surprised me to see you wearing it when there isn't a special occasion." Rayla felt the tips of her ears perk down and warm up at the compliment. _Maybe I'm the desperate one here, letting a human turn me into a schoolgirl with a crush_.

"Whatever. Back to the matter at hand." She flipped open to the first spell, which consisted of a rune shaped like a two-pronged hook. Accompanying the drawing was a page and a half of description on the recommended uses of the spell. "This is the Aspiro spell," Rayla translated. "It means 'I breathe'. You need to draw the rune in the air while holding the Primal Stone, say 'Aspiro', and blow air out. The book says 'this creates a powerful wind capable of knocking over small objects and creatures at its weakest, and blasting away elves and humans at its strongest."

"Sounds simple enough." Callum stood up with the Primal Stone in hand. He looked down at the book to memorize the rune, murmuring 'aspiro' to himself. _He's not actually going to do it here, is he?_ Then he started drawing the rune. _Of course he is._

"Callum, are you sure it's a good idea for you too-" She stopped talking when he flashed a devious grin at her, finished drawing the rune, and said 'aspiro'. He blew at her, impacting her face and hair with a gale-force wind that threatened to tip her over.

Only barely was she able to grip onto the table to avoid toppling to the floor. The prince was laughing at the sight of her severely windblown hair, and only laughed harder when she glared at him. "I guess I'm a mage after all, huh?"

Rayla shot up out of her chair and chased after the human, who yelled in panic. He ran past the sofa, dropping the Primal Stone onto it. Callum ended up on the opposite end of the sofa, with her by the other end. They danced around for a few seconds, waiting for the other to make a move.

Finally, she ran forward on the left side of the sofa. Predictably, Callum started running to where she had been on the opposite side. Just as she planned. Rayla vaulted over the couch, and tackled him to the floor. Callum grunted, letting out a pained "ow."

She pinned him face first against the ground. "Never told you that I was trained as an assassin did I?" she taunted, her mouth right next to his ear. The human laughed nervously, and Rayla became acutely aware that she was _very_ firmly pressed up against him.

A knock at the door took them both by surprise, causing her to scramble off of Callum. He reached into his pocket for his phone, and cursed when he looked at the screen. "It's Claudia. She can't know that I have the Primal Stone. It's already bad enough that you're here."

Rayla sprung up and covered the stone with a bunched up blanket while Callum texted his girlfriend. While he walked towards the door, she sprinted for the table and shoved the spellbook into her backpack, replacing it with her astronomy notebook and laptop.

By the time Callum reached the door to open it, she had seated herself and was pretending to be very engaged with the notes she had taken in class. "Hey babe," she heard Callum greet. "I didn't know you'd be-"

"What's _she_ doing here?" Rayla turned to see the brunette human glaring pointedly at her. _I can't seem to stop getting Callum in trouble, can I?_ She hoped that her hair wasn't too disheveled, because Claudia seemed very far down the path to making the wrong assumptions. _We were lucky that she didn't just barge in_ , she realized. That position would have been infinitely more compromising.

"She's here to work with me on our astronomy project, Claudia." Callum's voice was stern and confident. "She has a date later, and coming here would save her time she needs to make it." He glanced towards her, and Rayla had no choice but to go along with the lie, giving Claudia a nod of confirmation. "Why are _you_ here?"

Claudia looked shocked by his pointed rebuttal. "Is it wrong of me to show up at my boyfriend's place unannounced? Maybe I just wanted to see you, did you consider that?" To his credit, Callum looked undeterred by his girlfriend's attempts to tug at his heartstrings.

"You haven't come over unprompted a single time. Why would you start now?" Claudia was quiet, and Callum sighed angrily, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Rayla, could you give us some privacy?" he asked her. "You can sit at my desk in my room."

“Of course.” She got up from the table, taking her notes with her. As much as she hated Claudia, Rayla hated listening to couples argue even more. She entered Callum’s room, and shut the door behind her. Putting in her earphones and setting them to the highest volume she could tolerate, she attempted to focus on her work.

She could hear bits and pieces of their fight through her music, and she cursed her sensitive ears. It sounded like Callum was completely furious, and that Claudia was trying her very best to appease him. Then there was silence for a while, and Rayla began to think that Claudia had left.

Then she heard Callum shout angrily, and a door slam shut. _He just kicked her out_ , she realized. She took off her headphones, unsure of what to do. She listened carefully for any sounds from the other side of the door, and heard a strange noise. Rayla got up to put her ear against the door.

The noise occurred again, and it sounded like...whimpering. Rayla silently opened the door, and saw Callum sitting on the sofa with his back to her. His head was in his hands, and his body shook with each of his sobs.

She had never been good at comforting people. Her own emotions were tough enough to deal with on their own. But she walked over to him anyway. At this point, she didn't have any other choice.

He flinched a bit when she sat down and put an arm around his shoulders, but did not resist. "I should just break up with her," he admitted, sniffling and wiping his nose with his sleeve. "She doesn't trust me with her project, she doesn't trust me not to cheat on her. She only came here because the Primal Stone was missing, and that meant she was worried that I found out what she and her dad were up to."

"Then she tried to kiss me, and pull my shirt off..." He slammed his fist against the sofa. "Like I'm some...dumb animal she can throw a bone to. I don't know why she's treating me like this." Callum fell into her arms, and Rayla held him tight. "I loved her. I still do, somehow. Even after all the lies, the shitty attitude."

"Maybe there's still hope," she offered. "I don't believe you'd ever love someone who was always like this. Maybe after this, she will start treatin' you right."

He scoffed as if he didn't believe a word she said. Which was fair, because she didn't believe a word of it either. But she couldn't bring herself to say that he should break up with Claudia. Somehow, it didn't feel right, even though it was more obvious than ever that a breakup was in Callum's best interest.

"I'm scared," he confessed quietly. "I'm scared of what her and Viren are doing. I pray to anyone who's listening that they aren't doing what I think they are." Callum sat up, and Rayla released her hold on him. "I can't tell you what I think it is; it's too horrible. And I could be wrong. I hope." He turned to look at her, and gave her a tiny smile. "Thanks for being here for me. I didn't want to drag you into this mess."

"Pretty sure I dragged myself into it." Rayla pulled him into another hug, patting him on the back once. "And Callum; I'll always be here for you. Consider that a bindin' promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Rayllum teasing! I hope it was incredibly frustrating. I almost broke and made something happen after Rayla tackled Callum, but the temptation was successfully resisted. I have a plan for that, and it's going to be better.
> 
> My copy of TTM arrived a couple days ago, despite the Tuesday arrival date. I haven't had the urge to write a fanfic based on it yet, but like I said in my little soapbox session, I won't publish a TTM fic until a month from now if I do get the urge.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter, see you in a week!


	12. The Light Comes First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum receives his first lesson in magic from Aaravos. Runaan confesses a terrible secret to Rayla. Claudia and Viren's project is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely apologize that this was a day late. I wasn't able to write the chapter all about what I had envisioned, so I was forced mix things up a little.

For the third time that day, Callum thought about how weird his astronomy professor was. It was natural that he'd be at least a little weird; he was a millennia-old, powerful wizard. But giving him magic studies for homework and telling him to make the two hour drive to Mount Katolis to practice spells? _I guess he's hoping to create the first astronaut-mage_.

After Rayla helped him with the Aspiro spell, he found a Draconic translation guide, and managed to decipher the next spell. It was called 'Fulminus', a pretty straightforward evocation that sent forth a bolt of powerful lightning. But it wasn't exactly a spell he could really test out in his apartment or in the castle. Aspiro was quiet enough that he could practice it in one of the castle gardens, though he could only find opportunity for three attempts.

Callum parked his car in the lot where the trail up the mountain began. Grabbing his backpack, which contained the spellbook and the stone, he stepped out of his car and closed the door. Stretching his arms, he took one step forward towards the trail.

When his foot landed, he was on the peak of the mountain. He tripped on a rock, and tumbled to the ground. Panicking, he looked around to see the professor standing on the very tip of the peak, the magical residue of a teleportation spell blowing away in the strong mountain breeze.

"I thought I would spare you the long hike," the elf said simply. He began drawing a rune in the air, this time a light blue color, indicating it was a Sky spell. " _Ventus Spirallis._ " A whirlwind surrounded Callum, and the thin air of the mountain suddenly became much easier to breathe. "A useful spell for the Sky mage seeking to hone his talents in mountains. I suppose you are wondering why I've brought you to the tallest mountain in Katolis?"

 _"The Ka-tallest mountain,_ _"_ he almost said, remembering Soren's worst pun ever. "Kind of," he replied. "From what you just said, does it have something to do with mountains being close to the sky? Like, easier to do sky magic?"

Aaravos smirked ever so slightly. "I had hoped that a prince would have found a more eloquent way to say it, but yes. A Sky mage draws their power from the sky; the closer you are to its power, the stronger your spells will be. If there were a storm today, my Sky spells would be awesome to behold." He glanced at Callum's backpack. "But that doesn't matter when you have a Primal Stone. The storm contained inside serves as a conduit, meaning the wizard controlling it never has to worry about the state of the weather, or their altitude."

"Then why bother coming up here, if the Primal Stone has all the power I need?" Callum asked. "It's not like there aren't other secluded areas we could practice in."

The wizard's smirk turned into a mysterious grin. "Everything will be explained in due time, my prince. For now, just indulge an old man and show me what you have been able to learn this week."

"Okay." He took the Primal Stone out of his backpack, and stood near the edge of the mountain. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he drew out the Aspiro rune and uttered the incantation. Callum blew forcefully, and a conical blast of wind was emitted from his mouth. After a moment, he ceased the spell, and looked back at Aaravos.

The professor rested his hand on his chin, stroking it with his index finger. His expression was neutral, and he did not look too impressed. "I had expected that you would be able to use the Stone, but I had hoped that you would be better at it." The elf walked forward and stood beside him, looking across the landscape. "When you perform the spell, what are you thinking about?"

Callum shrugged. "I don't know. Nothing, I guess." Aaravos sighed in exasperation. "What should I be thinking about? The spell? I kind of _was_ thinking about the spell, just I wasn't super focused on it, so-"

"No. To achieve the height of power while casting Primal Magic, you must access primal emotions. Humans, Elves, Dragons must all do this when casting magic, if it is to be at its most powerful. You must think of things that elicit strong emotions inside you; anger, fear, or love. This allows the magic to flow more freely through you, unfiltered by complex thoughts."

"I guess that makes sense." It didn't really; Callum had always thought of magic as something esoteric, requiring an almost-alien way of thinking to truly comprehend. But to hear the most ancient mage say it was as simple as base emotions...it threw him for a loop.

But he cast aside that thought; he wasn't the all-powerful wizard in this situation. He drew the Fulminus rune and closed his eyes, trying to think of something emotionally powerful. The first thing that came to mind was Claudia, how she kept hurting him, how it filled him with fury. He almost completed the spell, thinking of how much he despised her.

Then his mother replaced that thought. _"My little mage,_ _"_ Callum could hear her say, her voice full of pride. _"Remember when we used to fly past Mount Katolis? You would always put your finger against the glass of the cockpit, and pretend to touch the peak."_

Callum smiled, his eyes becoming watery. "I remember," he whispered. He opened his eyes, staring out into the blue everlasting sky. He pointed with two fingers, and thrusted them forwards. "Fulminus." A massive bolt of blue lightning coursed from his fingers, crackling as the heat made the air sizzle. After traveling about a hundred meters, the electricity exploded with a deafening boom.

Awestruck by the raw power of the spell, he turned to Aaravos. A tiny smile had returned to the elf's face. "Impressive. You are a quick learner indeed, Prince Callum. That will be all for today." The professor drew a pinkish-purple rune, and snapped his fingers.

Callum found himself returned to the parking lot with his backpack, still holding the Primal Stone in his hand. Panicked, he looked around for other hikers. Miraculously, none of the other parked cars had passengers still inside, and the trail ahead was empty for a while. He breathed a sigh of relief. "I really hope he stops doing that," he grumbled to himself, stowing away the stone and entering his car.

* * *

Rayla entered her dads' apartment to see Runaan pacing around the living room. His head snapped towards her. "Hey Runaan," she greeted slowly. "What's got you bein' so antsy?"

"Nothin' worth worryin' over," Ethari called out from the kitchen. "Just his assassin paranoia kickin' in. Come in here Rayla, and help me with this pie. General Amaya gave me a human recipe as extra payment for my good work on the blades she commissioned."

Runaan snorted. "Maybe she could have told you what is really going on at Elarion instead. The Minister of Defence for Katolis, at an archaeological dig? How is that not the least bit suspicious to you?"

 _Claudia's dad,_ Rayla recalled. She remembered her conversation with Callum a few days ago, and how he couldn't tell her what he suspected Minister Viren of doing, because it was too horrible to contemplate. She had been too concerned with Callum's emotional state to think about it at the moment, but now it sent shivers down her spine.

Ethari didn't look away from the recipe sheet he had lying on the kitchen island. "Maybe he went there for fun? It's not as if he's got much to do anymore." The smith glanced up at her. "You mind peelin' and slicin' up some apples for me?"

Rayla complied, retrieving a bag of red, crispy apples from the fridge. "It wasn't an official visit," Runaan retorted in exasperation. "He came in using an unmarked car, dressed in a foreman's uniform. _He didn't want to be seen!_ Katolis is up to something at Elarion, mark my words."

"How do you know he's not actin' on his own?" she asked, starting to peel the apples. "If King Harrow is overseein' all this, then why would he send Minister Viren? He could just inspect things himself, and no one would think he was doin' anythin' other than a public visit to human historical site. He wouldn't arouse suspicion by sendin' his defence minister."

Ethari guffawed, while Runaan fell into the sullen silence which indicated that he was admitting defeat. "Sometimes she's got me wonderin' who the real strategic mind in this house really is," the smith said mirthfully. He was laying out the pie crust in a pie plate, smoothing out the dough. "When you're finished with the apples, put them in that big bowl." He pointed to a large metal bowl at the end of the table.

Runaan grumbles at his husband's joke. "It's foolish to trust them," he complained. "They won't be content with peace, and they won't stop until the whole continent is theirs. We cannot just wait for our destruction."

A loud slam startled Rayla, and she looks over to see that Ethari has slammed his fist on the counter. "You will stop that talk right now," he growled angrily. "I won't let your paranoia over one unofficial visit to an dig site develop in to some sort of ill-conceived assassination attempt."

Her blood runs cold. "Runaan?" she asks, much more meekly than she intended. "What is Ethari talking about?" She dropped the fruit peeler, feeling her heart beat like a war drum as she awaited his answer.

The former assassin sighs and beckons for her to sit with him on the couch in the living room. She does so, tension building up in her chest. Runaan didn't say anything right away, his eyes flickering around as he stared at the floor, clearly composing his thoughts and feelings. Knowing him, it would take a while.

After an agonizing minute, he spoke. "I never told you what mission I was on when I was captured, did I?" She shakes her head, and the older elf sighs deeply. "Thirteen years ago I was sent a message, direct from King Avizandum. He knew as well as anyone that victory or even a stalemate through conventional warfare was impossible at this point. Even with the breeding programs, mages and dragons were being killed faster than they could be replaced. The Sunforge couldn't churn out enough arrowheads and swords. Our defeat was just a matter of time."

"So I was ordered on a mission that, if successful, would throw Katolis into chaos. Hopefully long enough for us to recover, and stage a counter-offensive to reclaim the Breach." Runaan hesitated for a moment, his eyes showing the slightest bit of guilt. "My team's objective was to kill King Harrow, his wife, his top advisors...and your friend Prince Callum and his newborn brother."

* * *

 _"He was spotted at Elarion a few days ago,"_ Amaya signs to him, as they walk through the halls of the castle. _"I had told Harrow about the files you found, and we made sure to keep a close eye on him. The day after he left, I canceled an announced visit but showed up anyway. I saw men carrying mining equipment into the dig site, equipment far too big for an archaeologist's use. When I entered the dig site proper, there were more workers wearing hazmat suits, carrying suspicious lead-lined crates."_

His aunt shakes her head, as if she still can't quite believe it. _"Viren was running a secret mining operation to extract plutonium that had been discovered centuries ago. We looked into the requisition forms from the dig, and saw that they had requested twice the number of tractor-trailers that should have been necessary. When the trailers were shipped back to Katolis, one tractor-trailer would never drop off its contents at the museum. It would make a stop at a certain gas station, and show up to the museum with only a few pieces of stone and some trinkets."_

Callum signed back, too wary of Viren and Claudia or one of their loyal helpers eavesdropping to use spoken words. _"What did you do after I told you about Claudia seeing that the Primal Stone was missing? Viren might have covered his tracks by wiping his hard drives."_

 _"Don't worry, I convinced Harrow to let me seize Viren's computer. Our top computer experts are working on it as we speak. They assured me that even if Viren had wiped his hard drives, they should be able to recover the data."_ They stopped at the door to the council room. His aunt looks at him, recognizing the trepidation written on his face. _"Are you ready?"_

He took a deep breath and nodded. Amaya pushed open the door, and they both entered the large, airy room. His step-father was standing at the end of the table, his demeanor looking like that of an angry banther. On the left side of the table stood High Cleric Opeli, and Commander Gren. Viren and Claudia stood on the other end of the table opposite the king, and both of them looked towards Callum as he entered.

The minister of defense glares, but is cowed slightly when Amaya glares back at him. Claudia looks at him with a swirling mixture of emotions; grief, anger, and guilt. His own heart hurts for her, but he knows now she doesn't deserve it.

Callum and Amaya stood on the side of the table across from Opeli and Gren. Callum turns to Harrow, who gives him a sympathetic nod. The king looks to Opeli. "High Cleric, will you share with us the evidence found on Minister Viren's hard drives?"

The cleric nodded. "Working in conjunction with the Minister of the Interior, who had oversight of the archaeological dig at Elarion, Minister Viren sought to mine plutonium ore in an illegal mine underneath the ruins. This is a violation of the written agreement with the Moonshadow Confederation that allowed human access to Elarion."

"The extracted ore was loaded in trailers, along with a few artifacts from the dig site. The plutonium trailers would stop at a certain gas station a hundred miles from the capital, and load their goods onto another tractor trailer. The plutonium was then brought to an illicit refinery, which is in the process of being shut down."

Opeli's face scrunched up in disgust. "In violation of the Pentarchy Agreement of Nuclear Disarmament, Minister Viren and his daughter Claudia were using the refined plutonium to create nuclear weapons, in the form of missiles intended to be fired from a retrofitted submarine stolen from a naval boneyard." The cleric rested her eyes on Callum. "Prince Callum, if you would produce the Sky Primal Stone?"

He does as she asks, retrieving the stone from his backpack and placing it on the long table. He watches for Claudia's reaction, steeling himself for the look of betrayal. But she just hangs her head, while Viren fumes. "He broke into my office to obtain this stone; this evidence is inadmissible!"

Opeli regards him cooly, her gray eyes hard as steel. "A moot point, as this is not a court proceeding. In addition, Prince Callum cannot be charged with breaking and entering; the royal family has total ownership of the castle. Furthermore, all Primal Stones in Katolis have been categorized as possessions of the crown alone. These laws may be centuries old, but they are no less valid." Viren settles back, his jaw clenching so hard Callum expects his teeth to shatter.

"Now, back to the subject of the Primal Stone. Once the nuclear weapons were deployed, Minister Viren planned to use the stone to produce a storm that would spread the radioactive fallout all across Xadia, while keeping the dust from affecting the Pentarchy. His projections estimated that over eighty percent of the land would be radiated, rendering it uninhabitable for at least twenty years without human cleanup crews."

"I wasn't going to bomb Xadia without provocation," Viren objected angrily. He speaks to Harrow now, pleading to his former friend "This was only in the case of an attack, so that the war could be won quickly. Elves and dragons are in our land, Harrow. They are learning our weaknesses. The famines and droughts their mages brought upon us a hundred years ago will be even worse this time. We need a way to avoid a protracted war, to mitigate the damage to humanity!"

Harrow slammed his fists on the table. "We can achieve that by simply avoiding war! No, not war. Call it what it is. _Genocide_. When did you become so arrogant, to think you could take it upon yourself to end _two_ sentient races? When did you become so awful a parent that you roped your daughter into this...this _evil?_ "

Viren didn't respond, averting his eyes from the king's. Callum's father continues his rant. "When Xadia learns of what you've been up to, the peace my wife died for may be in vain. And it will be your fault. My sons' lives may be put into jeopardy, because you couldn't restrain yourself. Because you think you're the one who always knows best!" Harrow gestures to the guards. "Take them away to the holding cells. Opeli, inform the Senate of the charges, and prepare an emergency meeting with Queen Regent Zubeia."

Two Crownguards escorted Viren and Claudia away, while the High Cleric left to perform her duties. Gren leaves as well, tactfully recognizing that the king would want to speak with Amaya and Callum alone. Once privacy had been achieved, his father fell into his chair. He sighs, and rubs his hands over his face.

"What a disaster," Harrow laments. "Anyone with half a brain will know what Viren was planning to do with nuclear weapons. There's no hiding this, from anyone. There will be riots if we don't handle this right." He looks up at Callum. "I'm so sorry, son. I'm sorry you got dragged into this, that Claudia..." He shakes his head. "I should have watched Viren more closely, before it got so far."

Callum feels empty, almost. Like something has been ripped from his chest. He had prayed to whoever would listen that Claudia hadn't done it. Now, all he could wonder was what he could have done to stop her. To keep her from adopting her father's venomous views.

 _Poor Soren._ His friend had lost his sister and father in one day. The Senate would find them guilty, probably unanimously. Not even the peace treaty's staunchest opponents would want to be seen defending a nuclear holocaust. Even to them, nuclear weapons were too horrifying to use.

"I need to talk to her," he admitted. "I have to know why she did it, why someone I used to love could...agree to something so _awful_." Tears stung at his eyes. "I thought I knew her, but I didn't."

Harrow rose from his chair, and briskly walked over to him, pulling him into a hug. "Love can blind us sometimes. Keep us from seeing people for who they really are. But you didn't let it blind you. If you hadn't acted on your suspicions, we might have never stopped their project from being completed." His dad released him, but left his hands on his shoulders. "If you need closure son, go see her. But before you go, just know I'm so proud of you. I'm proud of how strong you've become, how confident you are now. I love you."

"I love you too, dad." Callum hugged Harrow back, then hugged Amaya. His aunt smiled once he pulled away, and signed about how she wondered when he got as tall as her. Callum left the council chamber, and headed for the holding cells near the guard barracks.

The guard let him into the holding area and led him to the back cell where Claudia was being held, separate from her father. She was pacing, her face taut with stress. She always got tunnel hearing when she became stressed, so she didn't hear him approach.

Callum stopped a foot away from the bars. "Claudia?" She immediately stopped walking and spun her head in his direction. Her eyes, green so much like his, were full of despair but a tinge of hope, perhaps gladdened to see him visiting her. He takes a deep breath. "It's over."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is going to have the fallout (pun intended) of the two big revelations in this chapter. It will also complete Claudium's burial.
> 
> I had intended the next chapter to be all about Viren's project and Callum and Claudia breaking up and for this chapter to be just Callum learning magic and some stuff with Rayla, but it didn't go as long as I wanted it to. So I decided to split up the next chapter, and include Runaan's confession about his mission in this chapter.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, see you all Sunday! There's a lot of consequences to what happened in this chapter, so I'm sure it will be up on time.


	13. The Fallout Comes After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla and Runaan argue in the aftermath of his revelation. Callum confronts Claudia over her actions, and ends their relationship. Callum and Rayla talk about everything that happened.

" _We do not take life lightly,_ that's what you always said to me. You taught me that life is sacred, and that the destruction of the environment by humans was what caused us to cast them out of Xadia. But you were fully prepared to kill a five year old and a baby?" Rayla was shaking with rage, unable to comprehend her mentor performing such a detestable act. "They did nothin' wrong!"

"Neither did the thousands of children killed by the humans' bombs, or orphaned by their soldiers!" Runaan's right hand digs somewhat into the armrest of the sofa. "My team wasn't doing anything that our enemy hadn't done themselves. It was the only way!"

"No, it wasn't! The Dragon King could have sued for peace! The war could have been over decades ago, we wouldn't be sittin' here discussin' this, and my parents would still be ALIVE!" She was screaming at him now, tears of grief and anger welling up in her eyes. "Instead, they're dead in some field somewhere. Callum's parents are dead, the Dragon King is dead."

Rayla stood up from the couch and turned away from him, too angry to look at Runaan at the moment. "We would resort to killin' little kids and rapin' our own to breed more mages before we even consider a _peace treaty_ , let alone surrender!" She spun around. "How far would you have gone, before you accepted that we lost? You had already sacrificed your dignity and honor, so what next?"

Her foster father looks like he wants to argue further, but says nothing. She shakes her head, disgusted. "I can't believe you. Talkin' to me since before I could speak about how life is sacred, then turnin' around and tryin' to kill little kids to prolong a hopeless war. Then you give me a schoolchild's line about how humans did it first." Rayla looks to Ethari. "I'm leavin'. I've lost my appetite."

She stormed out the door, slamming it shut behind her. _How could he?_ The man she looked up to her whole life, nearly a baby killer. Terror ran through her veins. He would've killed Ezran, who might've been the sweetest person she had ever met. He would have cut Callum's throat, robbing her of her best friend before she could ever know him.

 _Callum._ Could she even tell him about this? How would he even react, to know that the man she considered to be a father had attempted to kill him and his family? _Would he hate me?_ Rayla couldn't bear to even think about that possibility.

But she couldn't just _not_ tell him. It would eat away at her every time they were together. But what would telling him solve? Runaan wasn't about to try it again, and telling Callum might make him fearful for no good reason.

Rayla groaned as she walked towards the parking garage. _What a mess._ She had no idea what to do, other than to just wait it out. She and Runaan had argued before, and made up to each other without explicitly apologizing every time. But the point of argument had always been minor, at least in comparison to this.

If she saw Callum, she doubted that she would be able to stop herself from telling him. But she wanted nothing more than to see him at that moment, if only to remind herself that Runaan failed, that he was still alive and well. And so she could see the dorky half-grin he always had when he would start talking about aircraft, or that focused stare when he was drawing.

She snapped out of these thoughts as she clambered onto her motorbike. It was Sunday evening, meaning he was probably having dinner with family like she usually was. Rayla snorted; his night was probably a lot less tumultuous than hers, too.

* * *

Callum fights off the urge to comfort her, as tears begin to stream down the green eyes he had always thought were the same as his. He had once thought them so similar in so many ways; they loved technology, learning how machines worked. They were fascinated by the supernatural, and they both had imaginations that ran wild.

But Claudia had changed. At least he thinks she did, but he realizes that this may have been who she was all along. Whereas he was drawn to technology for how it might cater to his sense of adventure, she was drawn to it for its power. Magic to him was something awesome to be respected, while she saw it as a tool to be used. His imagination conjured images of exploration and peaceful nature, whereas hers only saw the worst futures.

She continues to cry, as the pity in his heart slowly withers away. Callum had hoped she would rage and spit venom at him, so it would be easy to say goodbye. But she didn't really seem to understand how far apart they had grown in the last two months. She doesn't realize what her neglect has done to him, how her rampant feelings of jealousy have turned his feelings for her sour.

He doesn't love her anymore. He hadn't thought that it was possible; he had a crush on her since he had become aware of the fact that girls existed. _The knowledge that your girlfriend was building nukes as part of a genocidal retaliatory strike tends to really put a damper on your relationship,_ Callum notes sourly.

"Why?" he finally asks, his voice bereft of any emotion except confusion. "Why would you throw everything away for this? How could you even think that this was justified? You didn't lose anyone in the war. Even if you did, you don't have the right to make these kinds of decisions. No one does."

"Callum please," Claudia begs. "I did it for you. Ever since my dad told me about how they tried to kill you when you were five, I couldn't stop thinking about how they might try it again. When my dad told me about his project, I knew that the elves wouldn't dare try to hurt you if we had the means to destroy them in the blink of an eye."

"Wait, they tried to kill me? Who tried to kill me?" There was no attempt on his life that he could remember. It wouldn't make much sense for him to be a target; his mom had been pregnant with Ezran when she married Harrow. He had never truly been the heir to the throne.

Claudia blinks in surprise, her tears ceasing to fall. “The Moonshadow elves, remember? One was caught outside your room, while the others were killed by your parents when Pip started screaming for them to wake up? How could you not remember?”

Callum shakes his head, frowning. "There was never an assassination attempt. Your dad was probably making up lies so you would go along with his plan." In truth, he remembered a night that had been chaotic, full of shouting and a few gunshots. But he had been assured by his mother that it had only been a misfire that resulted in an injured guard.

"Why can't you believe it? They wanted to wipe out the royal family of their strongest enemy, isn't that obvious? In one night, they'd have thrown the country into chaos. Your aunt would have had to leave the front-lines to take up the crown, robbing us of our best field general." Her face screws up in anger. "Why can't you see them for what they are? They're cold blooded killers."  


"So are you and your dad," he responded coldly. "You'd have nuked them all into oblivion. Should they judge all humans based on your actions, the way you judge all elves on the work of a few assassins? Why can't _you_ see them for what they are? They're stubborn, prideful, and more than a little arrogant. Sounds a lot like us, in my opinion."

Claudia has no retort for that, her eyes skirting away to avoid his gaze. Silence reigns for the next minute, and air hangs heavy with their raw emotion. Believing that there's nothing left to say, Callum turns to leave the holding area. "Callum, wait!" she cries out. "Please don't go yet."

He turns back around, but finds that he can't bear to look at her any longer. "I can't find it within myself to think that you're evil, despite everything you've done. I'll talk to my dad, and see if he can make sure you at least get the chance of parole. But it's over between us Claudia. You're not the person I fell in love with, and I don't see her ever coming back."

The sound of a door opening prevents her from responding to his last words. Soren's form is framed by the light of the window in Claudia's cell. He looks towards Callum, looking pale and absolutely crushed with grief. Callum is relieved to see no hatred in his friend's eyes, though he couldn't blame him if there had been.

"Callum," the blonde says, low and shaky. "I need to be alone with my sister." His eyes spoke of a need for answers, for any sort of comfort. Callum wanted to give him a hug, a pat on the shoulder, anything to reassure him.

But he doesn't, obeying Soren's wish. He gives him a sympathetic nod, and departs the holding area, quietly shutting the door behind him. The thought of his sketchbook calls to him, and he is stricken with a sudden urge to draw Rayla.

* * *

"Clauds," Soren starts, his eyes growing watery. "Tell me that this isn't happening, that you and dad didn't do what General Amaya told me you did." Just like with Callum, Claudia can't look him in the eyes. She didn't want to hurt either of them. She had hoped that they would understand her reasons.

She attempts to appeal to his stint of service with the military. "You were a soldier Soren, you know it's important to be able to end a war before it starts. That's what dad and I wanted to be able to do! We were never going to use it, I promise." Surely he could be convinced. He always listened in the past, quick to decide that she or their father would know better.

But not this time. He shakes his head, a frown forming on his face. "No. It's more important to be able to know when a war is inevitable, and when it isn't. There was no way the elves would break the peace. They're weaker than ever, and we have too much of a tech advantage. But if they learned that you were making..." He doesn't finish the sentence, his face contorting in disgust. "They would assume we were preparing to wipe them out. You might have just created a new war."

Claudia opened her mouth to respond, but he cut her off. Something he had never done before. "I should've seen this coming," Soren says angrily, pacing back and forth. He spins on his heels and points at her with fury. "You and dad _always_ knew best. You always had the answers, and I never did." He raises his hands up, gesturing to the holding area. "Now here you are, all because of your own arrogance. Because you two were the only ones who knew how shit works."

He huffs in frustration. "I can't look at you right now. I'll be back later, and maybe you'll have actually thought about how fucked up what you and dad did was." He briskly walked away and slammed the door to the holding area behind him. Claudia was left alone with her thoughts, and they weren't particularly comforting.

* * *

Rayla was still processing what Kazi had told her Monday morning. Minister Viren and Claudia had been arrested for developing illegal weapons, though the local news stations had no idea what kind of weapons. Her roommate thought she might know, but Rayla had no idea either. The thought of a weapon that humans thought too awful to use was horrifying to contemplate.

 _I guess Runaan was right about one thing_. They hadn't spoken since their spat two days ago. Ethari had called her, asking her to come over so she and Runaan could sort things out. _He's probably been talking Runaan's ears off, too_. The smith had been good at playing mediator in the past, but she wasn't in the mood to make up with Runaan. He'd have to come to her.

The atmosphere in astronomy class was heavy, and quiet. No news source she could find was able to say with certainty what Viren had been planning to do with his weapons, but it didn't take a genius to figure out the most likely possibility. The other elves were uneasy except for Professor Aaravos, though the ancient mage was especially solemn today.

The humans were uneasy as well, though Rayla couldn't tell if it was the news or the general mood of the elves that left them discomfited. Callum wasn't here yet; he hadn't texted her back when she reached out to him. She could only imagine what he was going through.

He walks in now, surprising her somewhat. She had been expecting him to stay home. His relationship with Claudia hadn't been much of a secret among humans, and Rayla doubted that the other elves in their class hadn't heard it from them. There was no way the environment of the class wouldn't stress him out.

The whole room looked at him as he entered, though no one said anything. Callum kept his gaze focused completely on his desk. She carefully searched his face and body for any signs of an anxiety attack. As he sat down next to her, she could hear his breathing was heavier than normal, and his right leg was fidgeting. His right hand was clenched, resting on his leg.

Rayla reached out to take his hand, giving it a squeeze. He turns to face her, and she watches as the anxious look in his eyes slowly dissipates. She smiles softly, and though he doesn't return it, he relaxes with a deep breath. His leg ceases to fidget, and his breathing slows down to a normal intensity and tempo.

"Do you want to talk about it this evenin'?" she asks, as quiet and comforting as she can manage. He nods silently, and they both turn their heads towards the front of their room as Aaravos starts the lecture. It's another minute until they release each other's hands, however.

* * *

Callum's apartment had taken over as their new study location after last Tuesday. Not that they would get around to doing that, or that working on homework together was actually necessary at this. They usually spent most of the time talking, frequently passing the hour limit that was set for the study rooms in the science library.

They're sitting on his couch, instead of at the table. Callum had already done the weekly homework himself, he had told her. The document was waiting for her in her school emails, for her to check her answers against. He was good enough at astronomy to do the homework in his sleep. Even though her grades in the class were good, she almost felt stupid compared to him.

He never made her feel that way himself, though. He was always quick to praise her intelligence on the rare occasions of her answering a question right that he got wrong. He always called her funny after she made him laugh, and often told her she was a nice person. He complimented her so often she wasn't sure if he was flirting or if it was just him being him.

Not even her girlfriend had complimented her as much as Callum did. But all her qualifiers had been about Rayla’s looks, her body, and almost always during their most intimate moments. Never once had Aytin fawned over her intellect or personality.  _ Probably why she broke up with me without a second thought _ .

Callum commented on her body a few times, but it had almost always been about her markings or her muscles, and in the least sexual way possible. The only time that he made a remark about something else was when she wore a bit of makeup. But she would have to squint pretty hard to take that as a flirtatious comment in context.

"Nukes," he finally says, breaking the minutes-long silence. His back is against the arm rest, legs curled up to avoid getting entangled with hers. "Nuclear weapons." She gives him a confused look, so he continues hesitantly. "They're explosives with a power completely unmatched by any conventional bomb or magic spell. One low-yield nuke the size of a football would annihilate half of Lux Aurea in a few seconds."

"How is that possible?" she breathes out, not believing what he had just said. She had seen the craters left by human bombs; it would take hundreds of the largest ones to bring about the result he had just described.

"Nuclear fission, a significantly watered-down version of nuclear fusion, which is what the sun does to give off so much energy. Atoms of radioactive elements like uranium or plutonium are split, creating a tremendous amount of energy." He looks down at his feet. "After the first few weapons tests, the Pentarchy agreed to not use them. And not just because of the sheer destructive power."

"After detonation, the air, dust, water and soil around the blast area is irradiated to fatal levels. The land becomes inhabitable to all but the hardiest creatures. Worse, the irradiated dust gets carried by the winds, spreading radiation across a greater distance and poisoning people, crops, and animals. It's called 'fallout', and some would say it's the worst part of the nuclear weapon."

Rayla was quiet for a few moments. "Why? I don't understand. What threat did Xadia pose anymore? The Battle of the Storm Spire broke our backs. The Sunfire military won't recover for another few decades, and Azymondias won't be full grown for another ninety years."

"Viren thought that elves might try to sabotage humanity from the inside, to weaken it for attack. He claimed that Katolis needed a way to end a war quickly. And he told Claudia that..." Callum pauses, wincing a bit. "That Moonshadow elves tried to kill my family and I when I was five. She decided that the only way to stop another assassination attempt was a deterrent. I don't think he was telling the truth, though."

Her heart starts to pound inside her chest. "Callum, he...he wasn't lyin'." He looks at her in shock, and Rayla sees an image of Runaan clutching a blade, standing above a young boy. "Sunday night, Runaan told me about the mission that got him captured for a year. He got order from the Dragon King to..." She can't continue. The words are too evil to say. "I haven't spoken to him since. I'm so sorry."

"Why?" It takes her a second to realize he wasn't asking why the Dragon King would order his family to be assassinated. "If you think I would ever blame you, or hate you for that..." Callum shakes his head, and swings his legs off the couch in order to shuffle closer to her. He rests a hand on her knee, sending a tiny tingle up her spine. "The Dragon King is dead. Runaan isn't an assassin anymore. The war is over. The past is the past, and it's not _our_ past."

Rayla sighs. "You're right. Thanks." He smiles at her, and turns to watch the TV, which was muted and set on the news channel. Viren and Claudia's arrest was the story of the week so far. Rayla subtly took her phone out of the pocket of her jacket, and cast her video to the TV.

The opening credits of the elven-made adventure film _The Wild Hunt_ began to scroll down the screen. Callum turned to her, looking adorably surprised. "I think we need to take our minds off of things for a couple of hours," she explained.

"Not a bad idea." He starts to get up, likely to get snacks, but he sits back down. He looks as if he wants to ask her something, but can't quite say it. She cocks an eyebrow at him. "Sorry, I was just thinking...the last day of the month is Halloween. It's a pretty antiquated holiday that a lot of humans use as an excuse to dress up in costumes. Soren and I would always go out to parties, even before I could drink."

"If you're askin' me to come, don't bother." His face droops in disappointment, and it's too cute for her not to break character by laughing. "I'm only messin' with you, dumb prince. Of course I'll come. I'll even wear some stupid costume, as long as you promise not to be a wizard or some shite."

Callum laughs. "I hope it's not too late to cancel my order," he jokes. "I think you would've liked all the crescent moons on the robe, though."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the Halloween party will be the next chapter. And yes, I will *not* do what literally every other Halloween chapter/fic has done and make Callum go as a wizard and Rayla as an assassin.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Remember to leave a kudos, and I'll see you next Sunday.


	14. Halloween Treat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum, Soren and Rayla go out on Halloween to hit up a nightclub.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday to MeuPerfil_de_Escritor! Sorry I couldn't write out a Rayllum oneshot, didn't quite have the time. I do have a TTM fic bouncing around my head, might write one out in a couple of weeks. I hope this extra long chapter will be enough!

Callum checked the weather for the night, and nodded appreciatively. It wouldn't be freezing, but cold enough for his heavy bomber jacket to be comfortably warm. He draped the pilot goggles and red scarf around his neck and left his room, his leather boots making a satisfying sound against the non-carpeted areas of the hardwood floor.

Soren stopped fumbling with the leather straps of his antiquated set of plate armor to look up. "I think that kinda counts as going as yourself, doesn't it? You actually  _ use  _ that gear. Even if I get into the Crownsguard, they only have to wear the cuirass and the helmet, not the full get-up like this."

He was right, it was his normal attire when he flew the old fighter jet. Callum moved to help his friend connect the breastplate with the backplate. "Well, I never wear it out in public. Besides, the goggles and scarf will make it harder for people to tell who I am, which I think is a bonus. Anyway, what makes you think you might not get into the Crownsguard?"

The blonde is uncharacteristically quiet for a bit. "My dad. Claudia. Both of them traitors. All your step-dad's advisors are going to be telling him it's too risky, that I might be a traitor too, that I might want revenge. Or they'll say that Xadia will be upset that the son of a war criminal got appointed to be a royal bodyguard."

While Callum knew he could easily convince his dad of Soren's loyalty, he also knew that his friend's second point was a valid one. That is,  _ if _ Xadia found out he was admitted to Crownsguard. "Well,  _ I _ won't be telling the Queen Regent that you're a Crownsguard. Are you?"

Soren chuckled. "No, I don't think I will. Maybe I can get a closed helmet, like this one." He dons a rounded helmet that has a point emerging from the back. A visor slams shut, leaving just a slit for Soren's eyes. His neck is covered by a piece of metal, padded a bit on the inside. "I hope Rayla gets here soon. Your apartment's too warm to be wearing this armor for another ten minutes."

The oven clock read three of seven. "Relax, she'll be here in three minutes, give or take one. She's never really late." Callum felt unreasonably excited to see what the elf had dressed up as, just as much excitement he had felt waiting to see Claudia's costume. He shakes that thought away immediately.  _ Not thinking about her tonight _ . "As for Marcos, I'm assuming he's not coming?"

The other man sat down at the table. "Nope. He's got something going on with Sabah and her friends instead. I think they're getting pretty serious. Good for him and everything, I'm happy for him, but I hope this doesn't become a regular thing where he ditches us for her group."

Callum hoped so, but more for Soren's sake than his own. He had basically lost a father and sister just two weeks ago; he didn't need to lose a friend as well. "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll hang out with us again. He could just be getting to know Sabah's friends for her benefit."

Soren grunts, not sounding very convinced. Callum is searching for something to say that would comfort him when he hears a knock on the door. He walks over to peek through the spyhole, and sees Rayla standing there. He can't see what her costume is, but he notices Rayla has new face markings in addition to her normal ones. A blue line came down from both temples, forming spirals on her cheeks.

He opened the door for the two, and breathed in sharply when he took in Rayla's costume. It felt insulting to even call it a costume. She was wearing a turquoise dress that went down to her ankles, the fabric looking almost like velvet. Her top had a low neck that exposed her collarbones and the top of her cleavage. Her arms were bare to her shoulders, and two lines of blue paint went from the top of her shoulder to the knuckles of her hands on both arms. 

On her feet were open-toed sandals, dark blue and made of a material he didn't recognize. Her hair was exquisitely neat, done up in a simple ponytail. Her lilac eyes were particularly luminescent tonight, looking unearthly. His heart was forgetting that it needed to keep beating. 

She looked gorgeous. He had always found her to be pretty attractive in her leather jackets and fitness wear, but now...she looked exactly like how his younger self pictured Moonshadow elves to look. Like an ethereal forest spirit, instead of a mortal being like him. _I think I might have just fallen in love,_ he thinks to himself.

He realizes he's been staring for a tad too long, and coughs into his fist. "Sorry, your costume is, um, really good." _Wow, smooth as silk_ _Callum. At least you didn't start drooling._ His ears felt hot, and they were probably as red as a ripened apple. "You look...beautiful," he adds a bit awkwardly.

Rayla smiles warmly at him, and he finds himself hoping that she blushes as much as he did. But if she does, it's hidden by her face paint. "Thanks." She reaches out and lightly touches his hair, which he combed and slightly greased up to give it a neater appearance. "You're lookin' rather dashin' yourself." His heart flutters, and he gulps as he attempts to keep his composure.

"Hey, what about me?" Soren complains, his arms clanking a bit as he stood up. Callum turns, and is relieved when he sees that blonde is blissfully unaware of his newfound infatuation. "I'm literally a knight in shining armor!" He angles his body so the light bounces off a shoulder pauldron and hits Callum in the eye.

He yelps a bit, while Rayla snorts in amusement. "Shinin' except for the parts where it's rusted." She points to the bottom corners of the breastplate, where two splotches of rust had formed, likely the result of neglect on Soren's part. "I thought human soldiers still wore armor. They not teach you that you're supposed to take care of it?"

" _Polymer_ armor," he corrects indignantly. "And I used rust blocker on this! It just didn't last as long as the label said it would." Soren picks up a bundle of cloth he had set down on the kitchen counter and unfurls it, revealing a short crimson surcoat with the broken towers of Katolis on it. He puts it on, and it covers his torso, including the rusted spots on his breastplate. "There. Now no one will be the wiser!"

The elf rolls her eyes, and returns them to look at Callum. "So, what are you supposed to be?" he asks her. "And I always thought that your markings were tattoos. Is it just body paint?"

She smiles. "No. Well yes, but it lasts much longer. It won't come off with water, sweat, or a little bit of friction. But I can remove it with some linfuli berry exfoliator. As for what I am..." She pauses for a bit, a shy look coming across her face. "Back in the Silvergrove, we would have fruit harvest festivals. Elves in their early adulthood would participate in special dances, and wear extra marking of their personal choice. I would have danced in my first harvest festival last year, if we hadn't moved."

"That's too bad, but at least you can dance now. Though I'm sure the dances that human college students do are a lot less graceful." That evokes a laugh from her, her eyes closing for a second. His heart beat a bit faster.

"Don't worry, I'll teach you some real moves." _I hope that comes after a couple of drinks, or I might faint_. "Your costume looks good, but I still don't know what it is." Rayla smirks a bit. "A motorcyclist in wintertime?"

It's his turn to laugh now. "No, though that's a pretty good guest. I'm an old-fashioned pilot!" He puts on the aviator cap and goggles, and wraps the scarf more tightly around his neck. "This is what I wear when I fly my mom's old fighter plane. It can get pretty cold thousands of feet in the air."

"C'mon enough flirting already," Soren interjects playfully. "It's time we got going before the bars get loaded up. Don't drink too much Callum; it's your turn to DD." Callum groans as the other man chuckles.

* * *

“Is this some sort of petty revenge for making you be DD?” Soren had his arms crossed, pouting as he sat in the backseat of Callum’s car. It was surprisingly neat, considering how chaotic Callum could be at times. She didn’t know much about human vehicles, but it seemed to be considered a nice car by the humans they passed by, who craned their necks to stare.

"Yes it is," Callum replied wryly, looking back at the other human in the rearview mirror. He had taken off his goggles and cap to drive, though he had put on gloves while the heaters in his car warmed the air inside. Something she was thankful for, since her festival dancer's attire was not very suited to Katolis' cold mid-autumn weather.

She had no idea why she decided to wear it in the first place. She could have gone as a mage, or worn a silly shadowpaw mask. But as much as it embarrassed her to admit, she liked seeing Callum react to it, to see him stare and stumble over his words like the adorable dork he was.

 _Handsome dork,_ she corrects herself subconsciously. Rayla stops herself from groaning out loud at the traitorous thought. _He's a human, get a grip. You're just wound up. There'll probably be another elf at one the clubs and bars we stop at, an attractive one that you can dance and spend the night with to get rid of these stupid feelings._

Callum is too focused on driving to notice her internal struggle that is no doubt written upon her face. She looks out the window, watching all the people milling about the streets. Some were children, dressed in cute costumes of animals or fictional heroes. Others were the parents, keeping a watchful eye on their kids. And then there were the university students like them, many dressed in more mature costumes.

They found a good parking spot in the middle of downtown, not far from the Elven Quarter. She wondered if her dads would get any visitors, or trick-or-treaters as Callum had called them. She vaguely remembered Ethari buying candy last year, but they ended up eating it when it became evident that no elves celebrated the holiday, and that no humans ever went to the Elven Quarter, except to throw toilet paper into the trees lining the streets. Apparently that was normal, according to Callum.

"This club up here is good, and the line is only about ten minutes long," Soren says, pointing to a blue neon sign that reads 'Daring'. _Strange name,_ she thinks to herself. There's a line of about twenty people waiting to get in. Mostly humans, and a few elves.

" _That's_ a short line?" she asks Callum incredulously. "How full can the club be already? It's only half past seven." He smiles sheepishly at her, shrugging.

"That's the bars on Halloween for you. Nobody's got class or work tomorrow, so everyone's packing up any place with a bar and a dance floor." He leans in close to speak more quietly. "A lot of people are looking to, um, _get laid_ , and they'll often be buzzed or drunk, so they might try to grab you or push you to dance with them."

Rayla patted her hip, where a sheathed knife was concealed under her dress. "Don't worry, I don't go out without some insurance." Callum just shakes his head, his smile turning into something more inscrutable.

"I think a punch or a 'fuck off' will be more than enough to scare off any overly presumptuous partiers," he responds. "You can be pretty scary when you're angry. When they don't know you, anyway. No one would be scared of you if they knew-"

She grabs him by the collar, silencing him. "If you mention my adoraburr plushie out loud, I'll use my knife to make sure you never mention anything again. Got it?" His eyes widened in fear, and he mouths a 'yes'. She releases him, and grins. "So, as you were sayin' about me not bein' scary since you know me?"

He sighs, half in defeat and the other half is...something else. "Fine. You're only _less_ scary than you were before I got to know you. Happy?" She nods smugly, and they take their place in the line. 

After a few minutes, the cold air becomes too much for her to bear. Rayla crosses her arms and brings them into herself, as she begins to shiver a bit. Callum offers her his warm-looking bomber jacket, but her pride prevents her from accepting. But she doesn't push him away when he stands close to her and wraps an arm around her shoulders.

The bouncer lets them in after a few moments of checking their I.D. cards. The tall, muscle-bound human takes the longest to examine her card, peering closely at it and searching ever single spot on it. "It's not a forgery," she snaps. "Now can you stop holdin' up the line?"

He mutters something under her breath, but reluctantly hands back her card. "It's clear," he says curtly. "Go in and enjoy the rest of your night." She thanks him sarcastically, and heads inside with Callum and Soren.

The club is fairly dark by human standards, but only slightly more so than the Silvergrove. Her eyes adjust easily, and she spots the bar on the right side of the room, twenty feet from the beginning of the crowded dance floor. "C'mon, let's get a drink." She tugs on the sleeve of Callum's jacket.

"I'm the driver," he protests, though the tone of his voice tells her he is willing to be convinced. "All I'm drinking tonight is water, and I'm not really that thirsty." Rayla rolls her eyes at him.

"It's going to be another four hours before we go home at the least. And I doubt your drivin' skills are going to be compromised by one drink." She cocks an eyebrow at him, going in for the kill. "Unless you're a lightweight and I've been overestimatin' your constitution?"

Callum takes the bait without hesitation. "Well, if my honor is on the line..." His eyes drift past her, and she follows them to see that Soren had already gone to the bar. They followed the would-be knight, squeezing past the numerous people on the way.

The blonde had finished ordering when they reached him. "Ordered us all a round of their specialty drink," he explains. "It's called 'the Archdragon'. Tabs on me, since Callum won't be drinking too much." He laughs at Callum's barely audible sigh.

He and her manage to snag a couple of seats while they waited for their drinks. "So," she starts. "Anythin' new happenin' with your dad and the Queen Regent?" The live band is too loud for anyone but them to hear their own conversation.

Callum shakes his head. "No, he's still at the Storm Spire. My aunt says they're still trying to figure out how to break it to the public, and arguing over Viren. Zubeia wants him to be extradited to Xadia for punishment, since my dad told her that the weapons were built to be used on elves and dragons."

Rayla shrugs, unable to see the problem. "Why does your dad care? Viren gets punished for his crime, and he makes the Dragon Queen and Xadia in general happy. I'm not really seein' the downside. He's got to punish him no matter what?"

The human sighs. "If only it were that simple." He surveys the various bottles of liquor stacked on the shelves of the bar, and looks back at her. "Unless Xadia passed some law about humans making nukes, Viren didn't break any of your people's laws. He broke the laws of Katolis _and_ the Pentarchy. If any monarch other than my dad gets a say on what happens to Viren, it'll be the other human kings and queens."

"Another problem..." he continues. "...is that there won't be many humans keen on the idea of a human being extradited to Xadia. They'll probably start demanding for Xadians who committed war crimes to be extradited to the Pentarchy. Namely, Sol Regem and Queen Khessa."

She remembered hearing about the brutal conditions human prisoners of war faced in Lux Aurea under Khessa's rule, which had persisted until her younger sister had intervened. And only the most bigoted elves and dragons would attempt to justify Sol Regem's annihilation of Elarion. As horrible as it was, it would have been poetic for the blind archdragon to have been slain by a weapon forged from the mines of the very city he had laid waste to.

Their own Archdragons were placed in front of them, taking her mind off the thought of war crimes for the moment. The drink was in a glass bowl, and looked to be a whole pint. It was red in color, and bubbled from a carbonated liquid that was part of the mix. A few ice cubes floated at the top, and a plastic dragon floated with them. The bartender returned to hand her a paper straw. "Plastic straw ban kicked in last week," she explained upon seeing Rayla's look of confusion.

She placed the straw in the drink and took a sip. The familiar taste of moonberry juice shocked her to her core. The sweet and tart taste was followed up by the burning of hard liquor. "Four ounces of vodka and rum," she heard Soren say into her ear.

 _That's one hell of a way to start off the night,_ she thinks to herself. She glances over to see Callum sucking the drink down at a solid pace. Not one to be outdone, Rayla hurries to match his pace. By the time they both came up for air, about half of each of their drinks was gone.

Callum snorted into his straw, creating big bubbles in his Archdragon. "I might just call Opeli and tell her to send someone to drive us home, because you're gonna get me drunk at this rate." She gets a funny feeling at the way he says the second half of the sentence.

"I think the High Cleric might be very concerned for the moral integrity of your Highness," Rayla teases with mock seriousness. "Getting drunk at a dark nightclub in the company of an elf is no way for a prince to conduct themselves."

He smirks. "Well, I think I would tell the High Cleric that it is as important as ever to establish friendly relations with elven kind, and that even she must concede there are few finer ways to bond with someone than over a drink." She motions for him to keep going. "And I think I would make her admit that the elf in question makes for finer company than any other, especially in regards to personality and appearance."

Rayla giggles, taking another sip of her drink. "I think the prince may have had too much to drink already. Your Highness is making comments that border on flattery, and there is nothing worse than a flatterer in the eyes of decent folk."

 _Stop flirting,_ the rational part of her brain tells her. _You're leading him on_. But was she? She can't help but glance at his lips, wondering how it might feel to kiss him. And she wasn't sure if it was just the alcohol that was making her feel this way.

"It isn't flattery if I mean it," Callum responds, but in a meeker manner, unlike the confident tone he had been speaking in during their previous banter. _Now I really want to kiss him_. She starts to lean in a bit, and his mouth opens slightly.

But she stops herself, and she internally curses her inhibitions, which curse her in return. Rayla looks behind them to the dance floor. Soren had abandoned them and his drink to 'dance' with a Skywing elf with blue hair and a pair of wings, dressed like a human angel. "Let's finish our drinks and go out there," she suggests to Callum, doing her best to sound nonchalant.

"Sure." They take a few minutes to finish their drinks, and walk out onto the floor. The music the band is playing is unfamiliar to her; she never really listened to human music. It wasn't the electronic sounding rhythms she had come to associate with human dance clubs. 'Alternative' maybe?

The people were facing the band as they played, swaying to the music or full on dancing. Some alone, some in pairs. The pacing of the song was slow, and so was the tempo of those dancing. Rayla grabbed Callum's right hand and put her other hand on his waist. She brought their interlocked hands to rest in between their shoulders.

He seemed a bit shocked by her forwardness, but wrapped his free arm around her lower back. Their bodies were pressed together, partly out of necessity, the rest out of a desire to be close. She's frustrated at her inability to feel more of his body with her hand that's on his waist, his heavy jacket blocking any chance to grasp at the flesh underneath.

"Aren't you hot in this thing?" she asks him, as they move around in a circle, careful to avoid bumping into the other dancers. "I like you, but I'd rather not have to touch your sweaty jacket. Personal preference."

"I'll take it off after the next song," Callum assures her. "I'll do everything in my power to ensure my gross sweat doesn't get on you. While we're dancing." She blushes at the addendum, and hopes the lighting is too dark for him to see. Thankfully, he blushes as well, catching on to his own innuendo.

By the time the song ends, a few beads of sweat have emerged on his forehead. They walk back to the bar to put his jacket on their seats, but stay there after agreeing that the song currently playing wasn't very good.

"I need something to cool me down," Callum complains, now just wearing a white cotton T-shirt. It fits him a bit tightly, allowing Rayla to see the lean muscle that had begun to develop as a result of their workouts. _Why not reap the benefits?_

 _Maybe I need something to cool me down too,_ she thinks to herself. She's about to tell Callum to get her a glass of cold water for her too when he waves down the bartender. "A bottle of chilled sake with two cups, please." The bartender retrieves a half liter bottle of clear liquor from a mini fridge, and places two porcelain cups next to it on the bar.

"Rice wine," he explains. He pours some sake into a cup and slides it towards her, along with the bottle and the empty cup. "Pour mine. My mom always told me you should pour sake for others, but not for yourself." The tradition seems strange, but Rayla obliges him, pouring his cup to full.

He raises his cup for a toast. "Happy Halloween." "Happy Halloween," she echoes. They lightly tap their cups together, cautious of spilling the sake out of its small container. Taking a sip, she finds the taste to be rather unique. The cold temperature offsets the burning of the alcohol.

They drain the rest of the bottle, making sure to pour each other's drinks. Callum orders both of them water, which strikes her as a good idea since her mind is already swimming. "I think we may have drank too much already," she says to him, laughing without meaning to.

He waves his hand dismissively with a lopsided grin. "As long as you don't start singing that dumb song from _The Wild Hunt_ , I think we'll be okay." He laughs at her as she gasps in shock, and she slaps him on the wrist.

"You take that back right now!" Rayla demands. She has no idea which song he's talking about, but she's offended all the same. "All of those songs are masterpieces, and I'll kill anyone who says otherwise!"

Callum cocks an eyebrow. "All of them? Even the one where they're in the vineyard?" She nods defiantly, and he raises his arms in disbelief. "Seriously?! Garlas is literally singing about how the poor solgrape harvest makes him upset because he won't be able to get that year's bottle as a future present for his girlfriend. Why are there even so many songs? You said it WAS AN ADVENTURE FILM!"

"IT IS!" she yells back, though neither of them are angry. "I'm sorry human adventure films are lame and don't have any songs in them!" Callum chuckles in exasperation, running his hands over his face. Rayla is about to continue her counter-rant when she hears the next song start.

"C'mon, get up." She drags him to the dance floor, him still wearing his goggles and scarf around his neck. She wraps her arms around the back of his neck, and his hands fall to her hips as they start to sway to the music. She stares into his emerald eyes as the band leader begins to sing.

_Our hearts, are free_

_So tell me what's wrong with the feeling_

_I'm a flower, you're the bee_

_It's much older than you and me_

_I'm in love, I'm alive_

_I belong to the stars and sky_

Rayla can't tear her eyes away from his, not with the way he's looking at her, nothing but adoration in his eyes. They slowly move closer together, until their noses are almost touching. The scent of his cologne soothes her nostrils, a nice crisp smell that doesn't overpower her senses like so many human bottled fragrances do.

_Let's forget who we are for one night_

_We're not animals baby_

_It's the people who lie_

He moves first, softly colliding his lips with hers. As useless as the 'rational' part of her brain has been, she ignores its protests as she immediately responds, tightening her hold on his neck. His lips are wonderfully full and soft, still tasting of the moonberry juice that had been in their first drink.

His hands drag her hips forward, so their loins bump up against each other. His left leg comes out to rest on the outside of her right leg, while his right leg presses against her core. Rayla moans into his mouth, opening her to dart out her tongue.

Callum does so as well, and they devour each other whole on the dance floor, uncaring of everyone around them. They eventually have to break apart to take a breath, though they rest their foreheads together, unwilling to completely separate.

_I want real love baby_

_Ooh, don't leave me waiting_

_I've got real love maybe_

_Wait until you taste me_

"I've been wanting to do that all night," Callum confesses breathlessly. "I wasn't sure you'd..." He trails off, before continuing. "I won't be mad if you don't want this."

The rational part of her mind comes roaring back, screaming at her not to keep going. But she doesn't listen. "Callum," she says softly but firmly. "I want this. Right now, I want this more than anythin', more than I've ever wanted anythin'."

It takes a moment for her words to register for him, and then he smiles the warmest, most beautiful smile she's ever seen. "So does that mean that Soren needs to find his own ride home tonight?"

Rayla grins back at him. "Definitely." She crashes her mouth against his once more, and guides his hands to rest on her behind. She breaks away for a moment. "I hope _you_ want this, because there's no backing out now." He answers in the affirmative by resuming their kiss.

_I want real love baby_

_There's a world inside me_

_Got the preacher's music_

_Just if for a minute_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 14 (actually 13) chapters in and it finally happened! I hope the burn wasn't too long or to short, like a medium-rare to medium burn, the best way to cook beef. The next chapter will deal with the morning after ;)
> 
> If you're a little upset that magic lessons with Aaravos was absent, or that the Viren situation was only briefly discussed, don't worry. Those will be in the next chapter as well, I just wanted this chapter to be almost all Rayllum.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, leave a comment if you did! Or if you have any constructive criticism for my writing!
> 
> For anyone who is curious, the song is Real Love Baby by Father John Misty


	15. Risk Assessment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla and Callum pick up the pieces in the morning after, and are faced with one situation they would probably have liked to delay.

Rayla opens her eyes, irritated by the ray of sunlight that is peeking past the drawn down shades. _Since when do I sleep facing the window?_ She starts to move when she realizes an arm is draped around her stomach, and someone's head is resting against the back of her neck. Their hand moves, and she feels five fingers graze her stomach through the shirt that definitely isn't hers.

She twists her head to look behind her, and feels a slight sense of panic as she sees Callum's sleeping form next to her. The feeling of fabric against her bare legs tells her that the shirt and her panties are the only things that she's wearing. Rayla slowly untangles herself from Callum's embrace, careful not to wake him.

Standing up, she gazes around the room, her fears being confirmed. Their clothes are haphazardly strewn about his bedroom; her bra is hanging on his lamp, and her dress is in a pile on his desk. Callum's jacket is in the corner, and his goggles and scarf were laying by the foot of the bed. His pants were nowhere to be found. 

"Shite," Rayla mutters under her breath. The memory of the previous night is coming back to her. How they kissed on the dance floor, eventually being driven back to Callum's apartment by one of the Crownsguard using Callum's car. She remembers them drunkenly fooling around in the backseat, with her laughing at the guard's obvious discomfort.

And when they finally got inside. She recalls ripping his shirt in her haste to remove it, and how he removed her dress much more gingerly. How he stared at her body in wonder, and how she admired his. She had never responded to another person's touch as much as she did to his. She feels as lust starts to course through her once more.

 _Stop_ , her inner voice commands. _You need to leave. This was a mistake. Go before he wakes up and sees you._ As much as Rayla hated the idea of leaving him alone without answers, the gravity of the situation was causing her to freak out. She had just slept with a human. A human prince.

It was one thing for Marcos and Sabah to date; they were normal people. They would face discrimination obviously, and probably already had. But her and Callum… _It could cause a political nightmare for his family_. How would the people of Katolis react? How would the other human kingdoms react?

 _How would the Silvergrove react? How would Runaan and Ethari react?_ She still hadn't spoken to the former since their fight. If he learned what had happened between her and Callum, it would be years before they could reconcile. _If we ever reconciled._

She needed to talk about this to someone. The only person she could think of was Ethari. He was the only one who might understand. Rayla takes another look at Callum, watching his body move with each breath. She didn't want to leave him, not with how peaceful he looked. Thinking of how he might react to seeing her gone ripped at her heartstrings.

But she didn't have a choice. She needed to figure things out, and she couldn't do it here. She takes off the white t-shirt she had borrowed from him, and retrieves her bra. After putting it on, she strides over to his desk as swiftly and silently as possible.

Rayla has her hands on her dress when she hears Callum stir in the bed. She freezes, hoping that he is only shifting around in his sleep. "Rayla?" he asks groggily. She curses quietly, and turns around to face him.

He's wearing the shirt from last night, a big tear at the armpit from her aggressive efforts in removing it. "Are you leaving?" There's disappointment in his voice, and his eyes are tinged with sadness that is nearly unbearable to look at.

 _Just tell him you're making yourself some tea._ But she can't lie to him. "Well, now I'm not." She drops her dress back on the desk, and sits down on the side of the bed. "I was going to, before you could wake up."

"Why?" It stings to hear the hurt in his voice, the sound of a person desperately thinking of what they had done wrong. "Oh. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean...I should have..." Rayla looks at him with confusion, wondering what he's on about. "I shouldn't have taken advantage of you last night, you were drunk and..."

Callum starts to hyperventilate, and she realizes he's having a panic attack. She grabs his face gently, forcing him to look into her eyes. His breathing slows a bit, and stops when she closes the gap to kiss him. She lingers for a few seconds before pulling away. "We were both drunk, dummy. That's not what this is about."

Rayla lets go of his face, and lets her hand fall to her lap. "I like you, Callum. Romantically, I mean. And I guess it's freakin' me out." She turns her head away, and now stares at the wall. "It's hard to think about what people might do if they found out you and I were together. It was tearin' me apart, because I do want to be with you. But the cost..." She falls silent.

He takes her hand, rubbing his thumb across the back of it. "I know. I want to be with you too. And it would cause problems from humans and elves that don't want to accept it." He pauses for a long moment, and she looks at him, worried that his panic attack was about to restart.

But he looks calm, if a bit worried as he looks back at her. "Frankly, I don't care what people I don't know will think about my love life. My dad won't care about you being an elf, and Ezran already likes you. My aunt might be uncomfortable, but she loves me. She'd get over it eventually. But your village, your dads...I wouldn't want you to damage your relationship with them for me."

Rayla looks away for a few seconds. Could she really reject him, just because other people didn't want to let go of the past? What would it say about her, that Callum was willing to potentially sacrifice his public image to be with her, and that she wasn't ready to do the same? Callum was the best thing to happen to her in...an incalculable length of time. He was worth the risk of her people's ire.

 _And it's not as if I've ever been the cautious sort_. She turns to face him once more. "There's nothin' in the Silvergrove for me that I can't find anywhere else. As for my dads...just like you said, they love me. They'll get over it." They both grin at each other, and lean into a kiss.

She sighs into his mouth, the anxiety melting away for the moment. His mouth tastes bad, but she keeps kissing him anyway. _Mine probably tastes terrible too_. The intensity of their kiss begins to increase, and Rayla moves to straddle his hips. She smiles smugly when she feels his growing erection press against her.

Callum is reaching for the clasps of her bra when his stomach releases an unholy rumble. After a moment of shock passes by, Rayla giggles uncontrollably as he blushes furiously. "I don't think I've ever been interrupted by a noisy stomach before," she teases.

"Hey I haven't eaten anything in twelve hours," he protests. He sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Sorry, I'm really hungry. But not hungover, at least. I'm glad drunk Rayla is still super responsible when it comes to hydration."

"Super responsible when it comes to _everything_ ," she corrects playfully, getting off of his lap to stand up. She looks down and considers the sorry state of his shirt. "Except undressin' you without ruinin' your clothes. I'll scrounge together some breakfast while you put on an actual shirt."

Rayla picks up his shirt that she had been wearing and puts it on. As she starts walking towards his bedroom door, she feels him pinch her butt, causing her to yelp at an embarrassingly high-pitch. She spins around to smack him, but he has already darted over the bed to take cover on the other side. "Fucker," she curses at him with an irritated smile.

She walks out of the bedroom with a huff, and freezes. Standing by the kitchen table is Ezran, who has a tote bag full of candy in his arms that is promptly dropped to the floor. Standing next to him is a tall, dark-skinned human with long dreadlocks, carrying a box of donuts. _King Harrow._

Both humans are staring at her with wide eyes. Ezran's mouth is agape as he takes in her somewhat disheveled appearance, and he quickly averts his gaze. The king is in much better control of his eyes, though he's wearing a look that can only be described as royally awkward.

Rayla hears footsteps behind her. "Did you drop something in-" Callum freezes right next to her, wearing a new shirt and just his boxers besides that. "Oh."

* * *

Callum knew he had been forgetting something. Ezran had promised of his own volition to share the spoils of his last year of trick or treating with him. His brother was probably hoping to also annoy him while he was recovering from a hangover, since he knew what college students did on Halloween weekend.

But Harrow being back was a complete surprise. Which is what his dad had intended, since he had returned last night and came with Ezran sans a sick Bait to have a surprise family meal for the first time in ten days. He had even brought donuts from Barius, which Callum preferred over the messier jelly tarts.

 _Too bad they showed up at the worst possible moment_. Callum knew he would have to introduce Rayla to his dad when they got more serious. But in a normal setting, like a family dinner at the castle. Not in his apartment, when they were both in their underwear. He wonders if they had heard them fooling around in his room. _Best not to think about that one_.

They were all sitting around the table now, Rayla wearing a pair of his sweatpants. His dad had been the first to recover from the shocked stupor. "Before we do anything else, I think you two should go get dressed," the king had suggested with as much grace as possible. "Then we'll talk if we need to."

Callum explained who Rayla was, realizing Harrow may have assumed that she was a one-night stand. The older man had a small, amused smile after that; though he knew that Rayla and he had since become friends, he was no doubt thinking about how Rayla tormented him the first week of them knowing each other.

His dad starts speaking once more. "I don't want to step on either of your boundaries, and I regret that this is how I found out about your relationship." _Yeah, me too._ "But...how long has this been going on for?" His brow furrows with worry. "Callum, have you been using-"

"Yes dad," Callum cuts off, his face turning red. He drops his head into his hands, and looks at Rayla out of the corner of his eye. She is similarly blushing, her own eyes averted downwards. He lifts his head back up with a groan. "We, umm, we _haven't_ been together. We were kind of, uh, figuring it out still. Like we both want to, but I want to talk about it more."

Harrow raises his hand. "Of course, I understand. You don't need to explain anymore." The king strokes his beard thoughtfully. "Alright, here's an idea. Ezran and I will go, and leave you two here to talk about things." He looks at Callum with a kind smile. "Just know that whatever you decide, I'll support you. I married your mother out of love alone, and I will never let politics and public opinion affect how I view the relationships of my sons."

Rayla speaks before he can. "Thank you, King Harrow. But it's alright with me if you and Ezran stay here. Callum and I can go into his room and talk there." She looks at him for his consent. Callum turns back to his dad, and nods.

"We'll stay then," Ezran replies, speaking for the first time. He's smiling brightly, instead of wearing the stunned look he had for the past twenty minutes. Though he had been friendly with Rayla, Callum had begun to worry that his brother didn't approve. "Take as long as you guys need." A stupid thought, he realizes. Ezran approved of everyone.

He and Rayla returned to his room, shutting the door behind them. He hears the TV turn on to some action movie; knowing Ezran, he did it to drown out the sound of their conversation and give them more privacy. Rayla lays down on the bed, and indicates for him to lay down next to her.

She speaks after a moment. "Well that was nerve wrackin'." They both laugh the nervousness out, and Callum feels more at ease. "I want us to be on the same page about this. I want to be your paramour, or whatever humans call it, and I want you to be mine. I would like to keep it private for now, family and close friends only. But I want to wait awhile before introducin' you to my dads. At least until Runaan and I have sorted things out."

Callums considers this for a moment. Though he wanted to be able to hold her hand and kiss her in public, he knew that it was probably the right move to keep their relationship relatively secret. They didn't need the attention while they were still in the early stages of dating. "Agreed. Should I keep a rope so you can sneak through my bedroom window?"

Rayla chuckles and rolls onto her side to face him. "I don't think that'll be necessary. There's nothing suspicious about two class partners studying at one of their apartments, is there? And studying for tests can go so late...it's only to be expected that the visiting student might have to crash on the couch due to exhaustion."

He smiles slyly. "Sounds perfectly reasonable to me." She leans forward and gives him a peck on the cheek. The sensation sends a warm feeling through his body. "Are you ready to go back out there?"

"As much as I'll ever be." They get out of bed and walk into the common area, holding hands. Ezran is still on the couch watching TV, but turns it off and returns to the kitchen table when he notices them. Harrow is already there, polishing off a maple-frosted donut. He quickly finishes it, and pushes the box aside.

They sit down, and Callum finds he cannot contain his smile. "We've decided we want to start dating, or to become _paramours_ as the elves call it." Rayla jabs him lightly with her elbow. "But we want to keep our relationship private for the time being. Family and close friends only, until we feel comfortable."

His step-dad nods with perfect understanding. "Of course. That's smart. Some people don't want to let go of the past, and might take out their anger on you two for your relationship. It can put a lot of stress on new couples."

"Wait," Rayla interjects, looking at Callum. "What about the Crownsguard that drove us home? We weren't exactly...subtle. What if he starts tellin' everyone about us? Even if he thinks it was just a fling..."

"Don't worry," Harrow commands gently. "The Crownsguard is sworn to silence regarding the personal lives of the royal family, except if they're talking to me. I'll make sure the Crownsguardsman in question is reminded of his vow, though."

"They used to be executed if they broke their vow," Callum tells her. "Now they're just discharged, but a dishonorable discharge from the Crownsguard basically turns you into a pariah. They wouldn't be able to find work anywhere in Katolis, or maybe even the rest of the Pentarchy."

Rayla seems reassured, at least for the moment. "What about...Aunt Amaya?" he asks his dad cautiously. "Do you think she'll be upset about Rayla and I?" His aunt had fought Xadia for twelve years, and lost a brother-in-law and a sister in the process. Callum couldn't recall her ever hatefully speaking of elves, but he wouldn't be surprised if she had bottled-up emotions about it.

Unexpectedly, Harrow smiles. It's a very knowing smile, and a mischievous one as well. Ezran adopts the same expression. "Oh, I wouldn't worry. I think she'll be perfectly understanding. Your aunt is no stranger to... _unorthodox_ relationships." He reaches for the donut box, plying its selections. Rayla gives him a questioning look, but Callum can only shrug in response.

His dad takes out a glazed donut, and pushes the box towards them. "I only brought a dozen, but there should be enough left for you two." He points to two powdered donuts. "These have raspberry jelly fillings," he tells Rayla.

The elf grabs a jelly donut, and takes a tentative bite. After a few seconds of chewing, she nods approvingly. "It's not as good as moonberry, but good enough." Harrow smiles, and returns to his own donut.

Callum is surprised by how quickly Rayla has acclimated to the situation. If he were in her shoes, he was sure he'd be a stuttering mess. Most humans would be terrified to give an honest opinion on anything provided to them by a king, even something as simple as donuts.

He took a donut for himself, a maple-frosted one. "So what happened during your talks with the Queen Regent?" he asks the king. "Aunt Amaya made it sound like they were far from over." Harrow's eyes widen in panic, but he doesn't say anything, as his mouth is full of donut. His eyes dart to Rayla and back to Callum.

"Oh," he says stupidly, realizing his mistake. "I kinda...um, _told_ Rayla what happened already?" His dad's eyes look like they're about to pop out of their skull. "But she promised to keep it secret, and obviously she has, so what's the harm?"

Harrow painfully swallows his bite of donut, and shoots him an annoyed look. "I understand that you trust her." He looks to Rayla apologetically. "And I mean no offense to you, but I once trusted Viren." His gaze went back to Callum. "And you once trusted Claudia."

Callum is about to angrily jump to Rayla's defense, but she speaks before he does. "Your concerns are reasonable King Harrow," she replies, more diplomatically than he ever thought her capable of. "But my people take our vows very seriously. And I vowed to Callum that I wouldn't speak a word of what he told me."

Her lilac-eyes were filled with steely resolve, almost as if she were challenging Harrow to doubt her words. His dad searched her eyes for a few long moments, then relaxed back into his chair. "Well, you already know what Viren was doing, and no elves have come to protest at the gates of the castle yet."

He looked back to Callum. "Queen Zubeia wants Viren and Claudia to face her judgement still. I have kept trying to convince her that it's impossible, that there would be riots if citizens for Katolis were extradited to Xadia, especially since they never acted against Xadia. But to no avail. She has threatened to kick humans out of Elarion if I do not agree."

"Maybe there's a compromise," Ezran suddenly suggested. The three of them turned to look at him with surprise. "The Pentarchy agrees on a punishment for someone who breaks Pentarchy law, right?" Harrow nods slowly, clearly intrigued with where the thirteen year-old is taking this.

"Queen Zubeia could take part in the trial at the same time! She won't punish Viren and Claudia herself, but she will get a say in what happens to them. Xadia feels listened to and respected, and the Pentarchy keeps its prisoners. Not everyone's happy of course, but everyone's appeased."

The king combs his beard with his fingers, giving much thought to Ezran's idea. For his part, Callum is impressed by his brother's aptitude for diplomacy. His plan had no guarantee of working, but it's far better than anything he could come up with. "Sounds like a better solution than anything so far," he praises. His little brother beams at him.

"It certainly seems so." Harrow drops his hand to the table. "I think I will suggest this to the queen, in person. And I'd like you to come with me Ezran. I might need you to help me convince her." The king is smiling, but he's completely serious.

"Really?" his younger brother asks, with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Their dad nods. Uncertainty washes over Ezran's face. "But...I'm only thirteen. And the Dragon Queen is like, a _thousand_ or something. Why would she listen to me?"

"What's a thirty year age difference to a dragon?" Rayla points out with a grin. "Besides, lookin' at your sweet lil' face might wear her down." Callum snorts in amusement when Ezran gives her a bashful look.

His brother thinks quietly for a short time. "Alright I'll go," he declared. "Can the Dragon Prince talk? If elf and dragon advisors are anything like ours, they'll be no fun to talk to."

Harrow chuckles. "It's just the one sky mage most of the time, named Ibis." Callum's interest is piqued somewhat. Aaravos was almost certainly the superior mage, but it would be nice to meet an actual Skywing mage. And the Storm Spire was also the Sky Primal Source. "He's a bit aloof though," the king continues. "But don't worry; Azymondias can't talk yet, but he is very...playful. Certainly more than I ever expected an archdragon to be."

"Works for me!" Ezran responds cheerfully. "Hopefully Bait is feeling better when we leave, so he can come too!" Callum is struck with a very odd feeling, thinking about Ezran playing with the Dragon Prince. Not just the idea of a human and dragon having a grand old time over a game of Monopoly; they were two heirs of nations that had been warring for centuries.

Their mother and aunt had killed Azymondias' father, who killed their mother before death took him. Neither had any memories of their dead parents; Ezran wasn't even three when their mother died, and Azymondias had not yet hatched. And yet, Callum was certain the two would be fast friends.

His dad and brother stuck around for another half hour, discussing much lighter topics now. Harrow seemed overjoyed that Callum had gotten Rayla into football, though the king had definitely overestimated the elf's interest, since he began to talk about the college season at large, and the professional draft. Rayla nodded along politely to her credit, though half of what he was saying had to sound completely alien.

Ezran kept giving them date suggestions, much to Callum's embarrassment. _He never did that when Claudia and I were together,_ he thought grumpily. And it wasn't as if they could do them any time soon, since they all revolved around public places. But since he made the mistake of looking annoyed, Rayla did nothing to stop his brother's rambling, teasing Callum after each idea.

"Well we'd better get going," his dad says, glancing at his old wristwatch. "Ezran has a session with his tutor, and I need to set up another conference with the Dragon Queen." He stands up and offers his hand out to Rayla, who promptly shakes it. "It was good to meet you, Rayla. I hope we meet again soon."

"Likewise," she replied. Ezran surprises her with a hug, though she gladly returns it. It's funny how sweet and innocent he still is, despite his rapid growth. The thirteen year old is almost tall enough to match eye level with Rayla.

Ezran and his dad then depart with a farewell to Callum, leaving behind half the candy and the rest of the donuts. Callum lets out a breath of relief at how well the parent introduction went, given the extremely unusual circumstances. "So," he says to his new girlfriend. "What should we do now?

"Well, we should probably do our homework and study for any upcoming tests." She smirks when he frowns in displeasure. "Right, I'm not so keen either. I think a better question is; what do we _want_ to do?" Rayla steps towards him, wrapping one arm around his neck and placing her other hand on his chest. "I have a few ideas."

"I can see that." Her smirk only grows, as her hand travels down his chest and passes under his waistband. Callum hisses as she grabs him, his body responding almost instantly. He leans forwards and claims her mouth with his own, greedily grabbing at her lower back and ass.

He grins as she contentedly moans into his mouth, continuing her ministrations with her hand. _Definitely one of my better weekends so far,_ he decides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said there would be Magic Lessons with Aaravos in this chapter, but I couldn't help but have Harrow and Ezran kind of walk in on Rayla and Callum. Next chapter, I swear!
> 
> I'll probably write out the implied smut and put it into a separate story, which would be the scene after the end of this chapter, and the scene between the end of last chapter and the start of this one. I may also do the Claudium one, if people want it. But maybe not, since if I did write it, it would be from an emotional disturbed Callum's perspective.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you next Sunday (for this story).


	16. The Past Is a Tyrant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum has another magic lesson with Aaravos, and learns more about the start of the war. Rayla confronts Runaan about his assassination attempt on the royal family once more.

The lightning bolt shoots forward and arcs wildly, far from the rock he was aiming at. It strikes the top of a tree, causing the wood to splinter and crackle. Birds frantically take off from the surrounding pines, singing songs of fear and danger. "Oh shit!" he yells, as the tree catches on fire from the powerful electricity.

Thinking quickly, Callum runs towards the tree with the Primal Stone still in hand. He draws the rune for the best spell that comes to mind. "Aspiro frigis!" He blows on the rune and towards the fire, and a freezing winter wind blasts the flames, extinguishing them in a few seconds.

He breathes a sigh of relief, the disaster averted. "You are distracted," a voice says from behind him. He turns to face his mentor, whose face is as indifferent as usual. Aaravos has his arms crossed over his bared chest, his robes little protection against the cold mountain air. If the elf is chilly, he shows little other evidence of it.

"You need divination magic to figure that one out?" Callum replies shortly. Target practice with the Fulminus spell had been going poorly; the lightning kept arcing away from where he was aiming. He had managed to keep it grounded for the first few rock targets, but the mounting frustration caused the last bolt to go haywire.

"Yes, but not to know that you are distracted, but _why_." He smirks ever so slightly, a look that Callum has come to expect to see at least twice per magic lesson. "Someone weighs heavily on your mind. Who is it? An engineering student about to be tried for war crimes, or the daughter of the Moonshadow assassin who tried to kill you when you were five?"

 _Well when you put it like that, it sounds pretty messed up. Wait._ "How do you know about all that?" he demands. Realizing the inanity of that question, he rephrases. "I mean, _why_ do you know about all that? Are you using magic to _spy_ on me?"

Aaravos remains unfazed. "You are my greatest pupil, Callum. And the first I've tutored in magic for centuries. I 'keep tabs' on you, as humans like to say. I'm not watching you every waking hour, and certainly not during your more... _private_ moments." Callum fights off the embarrassed blush forming on his cheeks.

"If you are concerned that I will tell anyone about your relationship with Rayla, don't be. I would never do anything to put you in unnecessary danger." Callum snorts at the usage of 'unnecessary'. "Is it the fear of your relationship being discovered that distracts you so?"

He shrugs and sighs. "I guess. That, and what will happen to Claudia." Callum sits on the ground. "What she was doing was evil, there's no question in my mind about that. But I don't think she deserves the punishment that the other monarchs will want to give her. Her dad has always been good at talking her into things. If he didn't want us to be together, we never would have been."

"And with Rayla..." Aaravos surprises him by sitting down across from him, in a crossed legs posture. "With Rayla," he continues. "It's hard not to think about what might happen if people find out too soon. I don't know if she understands how much attention will be on her. And it kills me that we can't do basic couple things, like hold hands in public, or go on dates."

It felt weird, sharing his deepest concerns with a millennia-old archmage, from a subgroup of elves notorious for their lack of interest in the day-to-day tedium of the short-lived races. And yet here he was, confiding in Aaravos like he were Harrow or Aunt Amaya.

"There is something I don't think _you_ understand Callum," the professor replies glibly. "Your relationship represents something greater than yourselves. It provides hope that both sides can overcome the pain of the past, as you set aside the pain caused to by Xadia, and as Rayla set aside the pain caused to her by Katolis."

"I was there, at the beginning of the war. I saw the barrage of rockets that took the eyes of the Sun King. I saw his dread breath of flames ignite the powder magazine, annihilating a quarter of Elarion in seconds, the rest of the city consumed by fire. After the enraged battles that ensued, even I could not foresee a future in which the war ended with both humans and Xadians alive."

"I believed that with Avizandum's death, the elves and dragons would fight to the very last to avenge their king, and that the humans of Katolis and Duren would do the same for their fallen queens. I did not believe Zubeia or your father would have the strength for peace."

"And as if to punish my hubris, fate saw fit to prove me wrong. After over five hundred years of on-and-off conflict, real peace. There are those who distrust the other side of course, and those who even work to undermine the peace bought with the blood of your mother. But they will fail. I have foreseen it, and I do not think my foresight will fail me this time."

Callum contemplates his words for a few moments, his eyes searching through the clear blue skies. "Why do you care so much about teaching me magic? It's not as if I'm the only human who can wield a Primal Stone. Is it just because I'm a prince?"

Aaravos shakes his head. "No, though it certainly helps my vision that you are a prince." The elf stands up, the stars on his skin seeming to shimmer in the light of the sun. "Do you know the history of gunpowder, Callum? Its origin?"

He furrows his brow, confused by the change in topic. "Yeah, it was invented by the scientist Ziard. He invented all sorts of stuff; the first steam engine, the printing press, cast iron cannons, the harquebus, even a primitive helicopter. Why do you ask?"

"Ziard was my first human student. Most of what he knew, he learned from me. I taught him the formulations for gunpowder, how steam could power machines, how to create lift. He improved my ideas of course, catapulting human progress in such a dramatic fashion that your society quickly began to rival that of the elves."

"Rival?" Callum had always thought that angle was mostly propaganda, to paint elves and dragons in a negative light to justify the war. "I assumed that they just hated how humans were using up resources more quickly than they could be replaced, destroying forests and depopulating the rivers, lakes and oceans of fish."

The archmage waves his hand dismissively. "No, all that came much later. Humans never dared to cut down trees in Moonshadow or Earthblood lands, or fish in Tidebound waters. Even with the Primal Stones, humans could not match elven society in sophistication, craftsmanship, or technology. Their magic was still far too limited."

"But with the printing press, books became easier to obtain. Newspapers began to appear, and more and more humans became literate. Besides its military applications, gunpowder made it easier to mine metals. Rockets were shot off at celebrations, great spectacles unlike anything elves could create. The new steam engine powered mills, ships, and the helicopter I mentioned earlier.

"Dragons, however, were not terribly concerned with advancement of human culture; what worried them were the martial advancements. Before, all humans had that could remotely threaten them were wooden ballistas, and those were only a threat to younger dragons."

"But cannon and rocket batteries; that was another story. Even a lucky harquebusier could down a dragon, with a chance shot to the eye. An arrow or crossbow bolt would simply blind them in one eye; a bullet could keep going into the brain."

"So Sol Regem decided that the only course of action was to make humanity give up gunpowder. He flew to Elarion, and demanded that Ziard meet with him outside of the city. I watched the meeting from my scrying tower."

"The archdragon stated that gunpowder was a vile substance, with too much destructive power to ever be entrusted to humans. Ziard threw his words back in his face, remarking that Sol Regem could not be entrusted with his own innate power. Of course, this enraged the king, and he demanded that humans give up gunpowder, or suffer the consequences."

"And of course, Ziard refused. So Sol Regem burned him into ashes, and flew straight for Elarion. I managed to give them a short notice, and the city's defensive cannons fired upon the dragon. He evaded the shots, but could not escape the barrage of rockets that hit him afterwards. A few missiles struck him in the face, blinding him."

"He crashed into the city, wounded but alive. And enraged. He laid about him with his tail and claws, smashing houses and killing humans. He unleashed his flame breath, by chance igniting the powder magazine. Thousands died in the blast, and Sol Regem nearly died as well."

"With the help of a Sunfire mage, he healed his more serious wounds and limped away. I teleported to the city, and saved as many as I could." Aaravos paused, and he looked as if he was stricken with grief. "Over a hundred thousand died that day, and the greatest human city of the age was a blackened ruin."

"With Sol Regem incapacitated, I had hoped that his successor would have a cooler head, and that humans would be able to rebuild Elarion and restore it to its former glory. But Luna Tenebris was little better than the Sun King. She would have tried to wipe out humanity, had I and the other great elven leaders not talked her down."

"Did they know that you had helped humans by teaching Ziard about gunpowder and steam power?" Callum asked. He had a hard time believing that the former Dragon Queen would listen to Aaravos if she knew, or even let him walk around Xadia freely.

"No. Luna and the others knew I sympathized with humans, but they had no idea of the scope. Ziard had told Sol Regem that a Great One had taught him the secrets of black powder, but no one listened to the sun dragon's rantings. They believed he was simply underestimating humans, that he was refusing to believe that humans could create such a powerful weapon."

Silence fell for a little while, while Callum thought about everything. "You haven't answered my original question; why are you teaching me magic?" Aaravos says nothing for a few seconds, then looks at him and sighs.

"Eventually, elves will take to human technology, while still possessing magic, which humans do not have. Yet." The elf puts his hands behind his back, and ambles towards the cliff face. "The balance will be disrupted in the favor of elves. Unless new human mages emerge, war may once again rear its ugly head."

Callum stands up, beginning to be exasperated with his professor's vague way of speaking. "I don't understand how _I_ can change that. I still need a Primal Stone to do magic, like every other human. I can't connect to an arcanum, so what's the point of all this?"

Aaravos turns around, his lips in a thin line. "We're done for today. No lesson next week, either. Instead, fly in your mother's old plane. Take the Primal Stone with you. It may help clear your mind." He drew two runes in the air, which Callum recognized as teleportation spells.

He threw up one hand, the other still clutching the Primal Stone. "No, wait! I can walk down, it's no big-" A flash of light grabbed him, forcing him to close his eyes to avoid the blinding radiance. When he opened them, he was back in the parking lot. The Primal Stone was no longer in his hand, and his backpack was a few pounds heavier.

A big family that was clearly about to go on a hike was staring at him, wide-eyed. Now aware that he was still in the pose he had been in when Aaravos teleported him, his arms fell to his sides. His mind went blank as he searched for an excuse as to why a prince of Katolis had just materialized next to them in Mount Katolis parking lot.

Callum laughs nervously, throwing up his arms. "Elven mages, am I right?" The family says nothing, still frozen in shock. He awkwardly shuffles over to his car, cursing his professor under his breath.

* * *

Rayla's fingers tapped against her thigh anxiously, as she waited for the door to her dads' apartment to open. It had been two weeks since her fight with Runaan, and she had yet to speak to him since then. But with everything that happened between her and Callum, she knew she had to make things up with him before she could even consider telling the older elf about her new relationship.

The door opens to reveal Ethari, who beckons her inside with a reassuring smile. "Come in and sit down, Rayla. I've put on a pot of tea for us." She walks in to see Runaan sitting on the couch, staring at the TV without really watching it. He glances towards her, eyes full of apprehension. _At least he's as nervous as I am_.

She sits down in a chair on the right side of the couch, scooting it forward so it was close to the coffee table in the center of the living room. The two of them sat in silence while Ethari retrieved the tea kettle and a few cups.

The smith sets a cup in front of her, and pours some tea with an unfamiliar but pleasant scent. "Jasmine," he explains as she lifts the cup to her nose to smell it. "The store was all out of Xadian tea." The tea was green, and the taste is rather subdued when she takes a small sip.

"So, how are your classes goin'?" Ethari asks as he pours a cup of tea for Runaan and himself. An icebreaker question, she knows. He was always good at easing her into awkward or difficult conversations by starting off with a light-hearted topic. She had always been a good student, so he knew that school would be a safe starting point. "Still gettin' along with the prince?" 

"Yes," Rayla answers, perhaps a bit too quickly. _Maybe getting along too well for your liking_. "We have a big project comin' up, creatin' our own solar system. We've got to draw it out on a big poster board and everythin', and put a lot of detail into the planets, their composition, atmospheres, orbits and such."

Ethari nods. "Sounds very interestin', and a lot of work. He sets down the kettle, and sits next to Runaan on the couch. He is positioned in between her and Runaan. "Where are you goin' to work on this, in the library? Would the tables be big enough?"

"Yeah," she lies. "It'll be a bit of a pain gettin' the study rooms reserved for hours on end, but I'll just make Callum flaunt his title around to make things go our way." If she admitted to doing school work at the human's apartment, Runaan would be pretty displeased. Even without knowing about their movie-watching and... _other activities._

"Why not do it where Prince Callum lives?" Ethari suggests, after taking a sip of his tea. "I assume he lives in his family's castle?" She shakes her head. "Huh. That's rather surprisin'. He lives on campus, then?"

"In the nicer apartments on the side of the campus," Rayla confirms. "His apartment is pretty big, as big as ours really." She sees Runaan squint at her from the corner of her eye. "Well, it looked as big as ours. I've only been there once, for a few minutes."

"You should work there, then. Don't have to jockey for room, and no one will steal your wallet if you pass out from workin' too late. The way you talk about him, Callum sound like a pretty safe person."

Rayla is too stunned to respond right away. "Uh yeah," she replies slowly. "Yes, he is. Not a violent bone in his whole body." Runaan shifts in his seat, wearing a scowl. He opens his mouth to object, but she doesn't let him say a word. "I think you're the last person who can say ANYTHIN' about Callum bein' unsafe, so don't even try!" she snarls at him.

Ethari tenses up, and Runaan clenches his jaw. She crosses her arms and sits up straight, preparing for the inevitable argument. "Now Rayla," Ethari says cautiously, reaching out to put his hand on her knee. "Let's stay civil, alright?" He turns to the other man. "Runaan? What do you want to say?"

The former assassin unclenches his jaw and exhales deeply, sinking back into the couch. "I'm sorry for hurting you Rayla. It was irresponsible of me not to tell you sooner. And..." He trails off, unable to continue speaking. His face contorts as if he's struggling on the inside.

"And what?" she demands. "You'll admit what you did was wrong? I'm not mad for me, I'm mad for my friend and his little brother! I'm angry that instead of admittin' fault, you tried to _defend_ the assassination attempt against two lil' kids! Are you too afraid to say it? That you rotted in a human prison for year over the orders of a bad king?"

He doesn't rise to meet her challenge. She had never seen him look so defeated, so tired. She felt guilty for bringing up his stint as a prisoner of war; his captors hadn't been kind, as she had always known from his broken right horn. But she won't let him mutter a 'sorry' to get off the hook. She had to hear him say it, and actually mean it.

"I spent a long time fighting Rayla," Runaan says, sounding exhausted in every possible way. "And for a long time, I believed in what I was fighting for. I had always been taught that duty came before everything else. And my duty was to protect our people, and listen to my superiors. So the breeding programs, the assassinations...they were a means to a noble end, so I did not question them."

"I suppose it was easy not to think about. No one I knew was forced to be a breeder for the mages, and killing humans was easy. They were invaders, they did not respect the balance between life and death. They committed atrocities, so nothing was off limits for us."

"Until that night, I had never killed a human who was just...in their home. I still haven't. When I saw the human king and his wife laying in bed, with the infant prince there between them, I hesitated. They were not the barbaric conquerors I had spent over a decade fighting. I paused only for a second, but enough for my team and I to be outed by the king's pet songbird."

Runaan shakes his head, his eyes growing misty. "My team was dead because of me. Because for one second, I wasn't detached." He looks at her now. "Sitting in my prison cell, with the nutrition tubes force feeding me so I couldn't starve myself to death, I vowed to avenge my comrades."

"I eventually escaped, and underwent the long process of recovery, so I could rejoin the war effort. And a week before I was to leave for the frontlines, the messenger bird came. Avizandum was dead, and your parents were missing. Not much later, another messenger comes with the news that there has been a ceasefire. The war was over."

"Everything I had done, everything I had suffered, had been for nothing. The end was not achieved, and the means were not justified. Victory hadn't been possible for decades, and there was nothing I could have done to change that. Deep down, I knew this. But I could never admit it."

"What I did was wrong, Rayla. You are right about that. And you are right that we should have surrendered, as much as that pains me to say." Runaan sighs, looking down at the coffee table now. "The world has changed. The old ways of thinking won't work anymore. They likely never will. It's time that we all accept that, the way you have." He looks up at her now, a bit hopefully. "Can you forgive me, Rayla?"

Tears sting at her eyelids. She stands up and walks over to sit next to him on the couch, and hugs him tightly. "I forgive you." He leans into the hug, squeezing her tight. She thinks of Callum, and how he would tease her for having such a sappy moment. "Please don't try to kill Callum again."

He chuckles, patting and rubbing her back. "Don't worry, those days are behind me. Security guards only tase and tackle people. Much less paperwork, I'm sure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaravos isn't a bad guy! Or is he? Or is he neither? Even I don't know for sure. But maybe I do.
> 
> Not much Rayllum in this chapter, I know. But that's all the last two chapters were, so... ;)
> 
> Fortuitous Entanglements will be slow in updating, because this story and my classes already demand so much of my time. Might include a Soryx chapter if anyone wants it.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you next Sunday!


	17. Stretch Your Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum and Rayla go on flight in Sarai's old fighter plane. Soren asks the two for some dating advice, and Callum gets a phone call.

Rayla regards the antiquated machine in front of her with a skeptical look. "Callum, I really don't know about this...thing. Are you sure you can't take a newer plane? One that has auto-pilot, since you're plannin' on messin' with the Primal Stone _while_ you're flyin' it?"

"Oh ye of little faith," the human jokes as he walks around the old fighter plane, inspecting the various parts. "I've flown in _storms_ before; the Primal Stone resting on my lap isn't going to distract me. Besides, Aaravos must have specified my mom's plane for a reason. He once said something about strong emotions making for stronger magic. Maybe this has something to do with that."

She sighs. "I guess he'd know better than us..." The first part of Callum's rebuttal clicks in her head. "Wait, you've flown in STORMS!?" She grabs him by the collar of his bomber jacket, shaking him wildly. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKIN' MIND?!"

"Not on purpose!" he protests. "I just forgot to check the weather report once. Or twice. I've since learned my lesson. Nothing but clear skies today." Rayla releases her grasp on his jacket, letting her arms fall to her sides. "Nice of you to be worried though," Callum teases, crossing his arms.

"Of course I'm worried, dummy." She looks back at the old fighter. "I don't really trust planes, or helicopters. Machines can fail. And if we were meant to fly, we'd be Skywing elves with wings. It kind of feels like we're subvertin' nature here. Like we're not s'posed to be doin' this."

Callum's eyes turn sad, and his lips turn down into a slight frown. "Just like humans aren't supposed to have magic, huh?" He turns away from her, attending to the plane again.

Rayla facepalms internally. _Wow, you managed to cast doubt on the two things he cares about most in one fell swoop. Good job, Rayla_. She knows what he's referring to is an old elven sentiment that even young elves like her are familiar with; unicorns should not have given humans the Primal Stones, because humans would have been born with magic had they been meant to have it.

She puts a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." _But you did,_ her mind interjected. She sighs, pausing for a moment. "I shouldn't have said that, and it wasn't right for me to think that way. Or at least, it wasn't right for me to make you think that I wanted you to think that way. I don't know if that makes _sense_ , but..."

He turns his head enough for her to see his face, and smiles. "It does. But I think it's easier for elves to think that way, because you were all born with these amazing natural abilities. You can turn _invisible_ , Rayla. Just with a full moon, and nothing else." Callum looks back at the plane. "But we weren't born with any of that. No magic, no invisibility. No wings."

"All we have is our minds, and a lot of ambition. The way I see it, it's up to _us_ to decide what we were meant to do. It's up to us to decide what lines not to cross, what our destinies are, what matters in life. And if whatever cosmic force is out there doesn't like it, then they shouldn't have made us this way."

Rayla looks around for anyone who could be watching, but the hanger they're in is empty, and no one is walking by. She gently pulls on his shoulder until he's facing her. "Well, I think whatever cosmic force made you did a pretty good job." She leaned forward to give him a peck on the cheek. She laughs at the goofy smile that comes across his face.

She looks at the fighter then back at him, and puts her hands on her hips. "So, am I goin' to fly with the dashin' Pilot Prince of Katolis or what?"

Callum chuckles. "I have to taxi the plane out of the hanger first. 'Pilot Prince of Katolis', huh? Sounds like one of those stupid romance novels my mom used to read while drinking wine. She and my step dad would always go to bed early those nights." Realization dawned on his face, followed by disgust. "Oh no. I'm not thinking about that for the rest of my life."

"I'm glad I could resurrect your repressed childhood memories. Now, let's get goin' so we can get back to your place for supper before the sun sets. _Delivery,_ this time. Microwaved noodles were terrible."

* * *

The two hour drive from Katolis to the airfield south of Fenrir's Bay could be annoying, especially since it usually meant waking up pretty early. On the upside, the airspace was much less crowded, even more so with the colder weather coming on. But Callum was always prepared for that. He had even bought Rayla a bomber jacket of her own (faux deerskin of course).

"It's a beautiful view," Rayla's voice murmured into his headset. She was right; they were in the peak of autumn, and the oaks and maple trees of the forests below were vibrant colors red, yellow, and orange. Beyond, they could see the beginning's of Fenrir's Bay. The waters were not a beautiful blue like those of the Weeping Bay, but a stormy gray. The winter storms created there were brutal, and often hammered Katolis. One of the many reasons he was grateful for the Banther Lodge.

"It's pretty in the winter too, after a lake effect blizzard is done dumping snow everywhere. It's never good for swimming though; even in the summer the water's pretty cold." Locking the plane's speed and angle of elevation, Callum looks down at the Primal Stone in his lap.

He can't feel anything different yet; the Stone is emanating the usual amount of energy. He wishes that Aaravos had been more specific in his instructions; 'clear your mind' was pretty damn vague in his opinion.

Seeing that they were nearly on the coastline of the bay, Callum unlocks the controls and turns the plane to follow the coastline, going southwest. It was the route that he and his mom had often taken when they would fly together in her fighter, the one he was flying now.

On one such occasion, a fast-forming storm had appeared in the middle of their night flight. He had been eight at the time, their last flight together. He could still remember the flash of lightning outside the window, the booming thunder, the rain striking the glass, the strong winds rattling the plane. His mom speaking to him the whole time.

She wasn't panicking, though. Or even trying to reassure him about the situation. "Nature's fireworks," she had told him gleefully. "They make it nice and easy to see in the rain. Look down and watch it light up the ground below us."

He had done so, excitedly watching as farmhouses and silos were illuminated by dim blue light. He remembers the trees swaying with the wind, a few losing branches to the force of the storm. He was so focused on the sights below he didn't notice the plane shaking dangerously, or his mom praying for a safe return.

Even after they landed without incident and his mother tearfully embraced him, Callum hadn't really understood just how much danger they were in. Not until he found himself flying through a storm of his own did he realize it. It didn't rattle him, though. He knew his mom was there with him.

Suddenly, the desire to fly in a storm overcame him. He yearned for the bracing winds, the flash of lightning and the clap of thunder. His mind would not conform to reason; he _had_ to fly in a storm. It was where he belonged, where the power of the Sky Primal was strongest.

Callum looks down at the Primal Stone in his lap. It was calling to him, begging him to come to it, to embrace the wild and furious freedom that only the raging skies could provide. "A storm shouldn't be trapped," he mutters to himself. He picks it up with one hand, examining it closely.

"What did you say?" Rayla asks. Her voice barely registers for him, enraptured as he is by the imprisoned tempest that desired to escape its bonds. _Even stone breaks_. A fall from a thousand feet would destroy the stone, surely. And then the storm would be released, roughly caressing the fighter with its mighty winds. The thought filled him with joy; it would be just like flying with his mom, one more time.

He reaches for the lever that would open the canopy, ready to hurl the Primal Stone to the ground. "Callum?" Rayla asks again, sounding concerned. "What are you doin'?" He stops abruptly, the ramifications of what he was about to do now hitting him.

 _She can't be here for this_. He can't put her in danger like this. He knows he has to fly in the storm. But he has to do it alone. Not least because it would put her in danger, danger that she wasn't aware of, that no sane person would consent to.

Callum hands her the stone. "Hold on to this, it's getting to be...distracting." She takes it from him with great care, and though he can't really see her face, he knows the look she's wearing is a worried one. "It's like a...Sky Primal overload. It almost feels like it wants to be a part of me. And I want to be a part of _it_."

Rayla is quiet for a long minute. "If what's happenin' to you is what I think it is, then you _really_ need to talk to Professor Aaravos after class on Tuesday."

* * *

_Princess Bride_ is a much better film than she had expected, even without any elves in it. Rayla had thought it would be a lame romance that took itself way too seriously, like the junk movies Ethari and Runaan would watch in the evenings as a guilty pleasure.

But it's witty, full of action, and has a level of angst and drama that is entertaining without being pathetic like those late night romance flicks. It might even be better than _The Wild Hunt_ , though she would sooner die than admit it to Callum.

Of the corner of her eye, she could see him watching her face whenever something funny or exciting happened. Normally, such behavior would have annoyed her, since it felt like there was pressure to enjoy the film. But with him, she could only find it as incredibly adorable.

"It was my mom's favorite movie," he tells her as the credits begin to roll. "We'd watch it every Sunday while eating breakfast, after morning prayers. It's been awhile since I've watched it, but even a decade later I could still remember most of the lines." It was far from the first time the subject of his late mother came up that day.

He had taken her flying in Queen Sarai's plane, watched his mother's favorite movie with her, and shared some of his fondest memories of the queen. Rayla realizes just how personal Callum has been today, and snuggles up closer to him on the couch.

She rests her head on his shoulder and wraps her arm around him. "Everything we did today...it means a lot to you, doesn't it?" She looks up at him, and he nods quietly. "Thank you. I know how hard it can be, openin' up to someone like this."

Callum smiles at her. "It isn't hard to be open with you." He leans down and kisses her on her forehead, eliciting a soft sigh of contentment from her. "You're easy to be around. Well, not at _first_ , but..." Rayla giggles and gently punches him in the side with the hand around his torso.

"Ow," he groans melodramatically. "So now that I've shared some of my most personal and treasured memories that I've shared with no one else before, I want to hear yours." She freezes, unsure of how to respond. She has no memory ready, and she's scrambling in her mind to find one when her human lets out a barking laugh. "I'm kidding, Rayla. I'll wait until you're ready."

"I hate you," she grumbles, though her lips betray her with a tiny grin. Callum chuckles again and drags a stray hair out of her eyes. A moment later, there's a knock on the door. "That's probably the food," she mutters to him. He grunts, and reluctantly begins to stand up and out of her embrace.

Before he can do so, the door swings open. "Hey Callum," Soren greets, holding a bag of food. His eyes move past her as if she's not even there. "I was on my way over and saw the delivery guy show up at your door so I took the food from him." His eyes return to Rayla. "Hi, Ray-Ray. Long time no see."

She's speechless for a moment, from both his lack of reaction to her cuddling against Callum and the god awful nickname he just tried to use. Callum is similarly stricken, and he is making a few choked noises while attempting to speak.

Rayla recovers first. "Uh, hi Soren. Before anythin' else, don't ever call me that nickname again." He nods, a bit nervous at the sternness in her voice and face. "Now, why are you bargin' into Callum's apartment, and why aren't you shocked at all?" She turns to Callum. "And _you_ said the door was locked!"

"I swear I did!" he protests. "The lock just doesn't go in properly sometimes, and I forgot to check it." He turns to Soren. "But seriously, are you...not surprised or thrown off at all by this?" He gestures to her and himself. "No snarky comment about us being together?"

"You guys are together?" A deeply awkward silence comes over the room for a few seconds. "Ha, nah I'm just kidding. Of course I knew! Why else would you guys ditch me so early other than to hook up? You guys were practically fucking each other with your eyes the whole night. Not that I minded you leaving, I wound up spending the night with that hot Skywing elf anyway. You'd be surprised what she could do with her wings, man. It was-"

"Soren," Callum interjects. "You've already given too much information. Stop before you give _way too much_." The blonde raises his hands up and nods with his eyes closed. "Now, why are you here?"

Soren walks towards the table, and puts down the food less gently than Rayla would have liked. "I didn't mention that Skywing for no reason. Her name's Nyx, she was cool, and I...guess I like her. She gave me her number before I left, so obviously she likes me back. But I have no idea where to take her on a date."

"So you came to ask _me_?" Callum asks incredulously. The other human nods. "You were the one always giving me dating advice, regardless of whether I wanted it or not. You're three and half years older than me, and have dated way more people. Why come to me for help?"

"Well, I figured that since you're dating an elf, you'd have good tips. Plus, Marcos got weirded out when my questions got...overly personal. And since Rayla's here, I can get the answers straight from her!" He looks towards her. "You and Callum have probably gone on a date right? Where'd you go, the woods? What did you do there, dance?"

Rayla laughs at his absurdness. "Yes, keep askin' question before I can answer them." Soren mutters an apology, and shuts his mouth. "Just because we're both elves doesn't mean we have the same interests. We aren't even connected to the same primal source. Moonshadows and Skywings have very different perspectives on life, and different experiences."

She looks at Callum. "If Callum were an elf, he'd be a Skywing for sure. He loves to fly, he has a vivid imagination, and he's very free with his feelings. A more extreme Skywing would be semi-nomadic, always traveling because they don't like to be tied down in one place. They value personal freedom over everything else."

Soren rests his hand on his chin, and appears to think for a few moments. "I don't know how to make that work on a date," he finally admits. "She seemed pretty independent. I don't think she would enjoy a planned out date."

"Then don't do a planned out date," Callum chimes in. "Take her to the marketplace or the town square. Walk around, and do whatever strikes your fancy. Or you could ask her to choose an activity for you two to do. Either way she'll feel comfortable, because she'll have free agency."

The blonde snaps his fingers and points at her paramour. "Callum, you're a fucking genius." He briskly walks towards the door with great purpose. "Thanks guys, see you later!" He rips open the door with excited energy, and slams it shut behind him.

"My Saturdays are becoming extremely eventful lately," Callum comments dryly. He walks over to the door and locks it, double checking that it stuck this time. Rayla stands up herself, stretching out her limbs after a few hours of sitting on a couch.

Callum pours himself a glass of clear soda, and a glass of moonberry juice for her. "Did you buy this just for me?" she asks in mild surprise. He had complained before of how tart it was, leaving the chances of him buying it for himself as fairly unlikely.

"Yeah," he confesses sheepishly. "I guess I could make mixed drinks with it too, but I got it with you in mind. I have lunemelon sliced up in a container at the bottom of the fridge, too. But _that's_ for me too, so you'd better not eat it all." He takes his box of food, and opens it to release the scent of poultry and a pleasant sauce. "Mmmh, roast duck. Been way too long."

Rayla can't help but greedily inhale the sweet scent. The duck meat is dark and delectable looking, and is covered with a brown sauce that smells heavenly. She pushes the temptation aside, and takes out her own box. It's a green salad with croutons and dressing that she didn't ask for.

She sighs at the fiddly meal in front of her, realizing her mistake. Human lettuce was much less filling than Xadian lettuce; due to the lack of magic in the soil. The only calories to be found were in the dressing and the croutons, and she didn't care much for the former. She did get a moonberry surprise, but that was two servings of dessert. It couldn't serve as her dinner.

Looking back at Callum, she bites her lip as she watches him devour his duck. He's even making pleasurable noises as he eats, as if the deliciousness of his meal is overpowering his mind. _It's already dead and being eaten,_ she reasons with herself. _I didn't kill it, so I didn't take life lightly. Callum isn't a big eater anyway, he probably won't finish it. And he doesn't like reheated normal food, so he might just throw it away. And that would be a waste._

She readies her fork, waiting for the right moment to strike. When his arms and hands are clear of the duck, she plunges her utensil forward, plucking up a few pieces of duck. Callum shouts in shock and protest, but doesn't do anything else as she drops the duck meat into her box.

"Hey, what gives! I thought you didn't even eat meat, like it was a cultural thing?!" Rayla is too busy stuffing her face with the duck to answer right away. It's as delicious as it smells, sweet and greasy in all the right ways. 

"I'm sorry! It just smelled so good and this human salad looks so bad, and it's already dead and cooked so-" She's interrupted by the ringing of Callum's phone. He slides it out of his pocket and looks down at the screen, which just read 'Dad'.

"Hello?" he answers. She can make out about every third word on Harrow's end; ' _queen_ ', ' _Viren and Claudia_ ', ' _trial_ ', ' _wants_ ', ' _you_ '. "You're joking." Callum has gone pale, and his hand starts to shake. "D-dad, I can't. Why can't Aunt Amaya do it, she was there with me?" ' _Vacation_ ', ' _girlfriend'_ , ' _she'll call you_ '. 

He looks a bit distressed, so she reaches across the table and takes his hand to comfort him. His eyes dart to hers, and he gives her a little smile. "Okay dad, I'll be there." He puts down his phone, and takes a deep breath. "Looks like I'm going to Xadia tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a cliffhanger to end this chapter, though most of you will probably figure out what Callum's going to Xadia for.
> 
> Callum is definitely making some headway with the Primal Stone. It'll be awhile until something big happens with that, though.
> 
> People seemed to like the idea of Soryx, so I decided to give that a little bit of attention this chapter. Might (definitely will) give them a chapter in my other story ;)
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and see you next Sunday!

**Author's Note:**

> That's the first chapter! The twenty chapter count is a place-holder, this work will be anywhere from 15-25 chapters long. I'll be updating on a weekly basis, next chapter will be mostly from Rayla's POV, to explain why she's so hostile. Yeah, Callum has a social anxiety disorder, and Rayla doesn't know what the hell that is because Moonshadow elves are pretty bad at dealing with mental health in my headcanon. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, leave some feedback if you have any.


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